Leto

Niobe, wife of Amphion, king of Thebes, had seven sons and seven daughters. She took pride in their number and in her own royal descent. During a ceremony held for Leto, Apollo, and Artemis, she mocked Leto for having only two children. Niobe told the Thebans that she was more blessed than the goddess and demanded the honours and sacrifices given to Leto.

Mante, the prophetic daughter of Teiresias, heard the insult. She urged the Theban women to appease Leto and her children at once. They burned frankincense and crowned their hair with laurel. Before the rite was complete, Niobe arrived with attendants. She wore a splendid Phrygian robe, and her long hair hung loose. She interrupted the sacrifice and asked why Leto should be honoured above her. Niobe called herself the grandchild of Zeus and Atlas, queen of Cadmus’s house, and the dread of the Phrygians. Even if misfortune took two or three of her children, she claimed, many would remain.

Leto was angered by the boast and sent Apollo and Artemis against the children. In one account, Artemis shot the daughters inside the house, while Apollo killed the sons as they hunted on Mount Cithaeron. Their arrows struck without warning. Amphion alone survived among the sons, and Chloris, the eldest daughter, survived among the daughters. Other accounts preserve different numbers of children and different survivors.

Niobe was left grieving over the children whose number had been the source of her pride. The punishment followed her claim that she was more blessed than Leto. The story closes with Apollo and Artemis having avenged the insult to their mother by destroying Niobe’s offspring.

Zeus lay with Leto, daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe. One account says that Zeus and Leto changed themselves into quails when they joined. Another says that Zeus abandoned Leto when she was about to bear his children, fearing Hera. Hera became Leto’s enemy. She sent the serpent Python to pursue Leto across the world and decreed that Leto could give birth nowhere touched by the sun. Countries and islands refused to receive her, fearing Hera’s anger.

Leto wandered until she reached a small piece of land in the sea. It had no firm foundation and was tossed about by the waves and winds. The island was called Delos and was rocky and barren. When Leto asked for refuge, it received her. Four pillars then rose from the sea and held the island firmly in place. Another account places Leto first at Ortygia, near Delos, before she crossed to Delos. There she gave birth to Artemis. The newborn goddess helped her mother across the narrow straits. On the north side of Mount Cynthus, Leto gave birth to Apollo between an olive tree and a date palm, after nine days of labour. In another version, Eileithyia had to be bribed with a beautiful necklace before she would attend Leto.

After the births, Leto travelled with her children to Lycia. Exhausted by the heat, she asked peasants working beside a small lake for water. They refused to give her any, and also refused water to her babies. Leto changed them into frogs, leaving them to remain at the lake. Later, Niobe, daughter of Tantalus, claimed superiority over Leto because she had seven sons and seven daughters. Leto sent Apollo and Artemis against Niobe’s children, and they killed the Niobids with their arrows.

Leto wandered from place to place while pregnant, fleeing Hera and the serpent Python. Zeus had loved her, but some accounts say that he abandoned her when she was about to give birth because he feared Hera. Hera’s anger followed Leto. The earth and the heavens gave her no refuge, and countries and islands refused to receive her because they feared offending Hera.

At last, Leto reached Delos, a small island adrift in the sea. It had no firm foundation and was driven about by waves and winds. The island was rocky and barren, and was considered the least secure of all the islands. Leto asked it for shelter. Delos welcomed her, and four high pillars rose from the sea floor to hold the island firmly in place.

Leto gave birth there to Artemis and Phoebus Apollo. In one account, both children were born on Delos. Another places Artemis’s birth at Ortygia, near Delos, and says that she then helped Leto cross to the island, where Apollo was born between an olive tree and a date palm after a labour lasting nine days. Another account says that the goddess of childbirth had to be persuaded to attend Leto.

Delos was later known as the heaven built isle. A temple of Apollo was built there and drew visitors from many lands. The island remained associated with the birth of Artemis and Apollo, although the accounts differ over how it was secured and where each birth took place.