Leto

In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Leto (; Ancient Greek: Λητώ, romanized: Lētṓ, pronounced [lεːˈtɔː]) is the mother of Apollo and Artemis. She is the daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe, and the sister of Asteria. In the Olympian scheme, the king of gods Zeus is the father of her twins, Apollo and Artemis, whom Leto conceived after her hidden beauty accidentally caught the eye of Zeus. During her pregnancy, Leto sought for a place where she could give birth to Apollo and Artemis, since Hera, the wife of Zeus, in her jealousy, ordered all lands to shun her and deny her shelter. Hera is also the one to have sent the monstrous serpent Python and the giant Tityos against Leto to pursue and harm her. Leto eventually found an island, Delos, that was not joined to the mainland or attached to the ocean floor, therefore it was not considered land or island and she could give birth. In some stories, Hera further tormented Leto by delaying her labour, leaving Leto in agony for days before she could deliver the twins, who proceed to slay her assailants. Besides the myth of the birth of Apollo and Artemis, Leto appears in other notable myths, usually where she punishes mortals for their hubris against her. After some Lycian peasants prevented her and her infants from drinking from a fountain, Leto transformed them all into frogs inhabiting the fountain. When Niobe boasts of being a better mother than Leto due to having given birth to a greater number of children than the goddess and mocks the appearance of her twins, Leto then asks her children to avenge her, and they respond by shooting all of Niobe's sons and daughters dead as punishment. Usually, Leto is found at Olympus among the other gods,...