Tales of Leto

Leto was the daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe, and was one of the earliest loves of Zeus. Though the affair between Zeus and Leto took place before his marriage to Hera, the goddess was extremely jealous of her husband's former paramour. When the news reached Hera's ears that Leto was pregnant with twins, she summoned a hideous serpent called Python down from Mount Parnassus to seek out and torment her young rival. Terrified and alone, Leto wandered aimlessly through the countryside searching for a place to give birth. Heavy with child, Leto traveled from town to town, but to her dismay she could find no one to offer her any comfort.

It seems that Hera had decreed that no land thriving under the rays of the sun would be permitted to receive her or her unborn children. Zeus sought the help of the north wind Boreas, who agreed to fly Leto to the island of Ortygia.

Once there, Poseidon covered the land with his great waves, blocking out the sun and creating a safe haven from Hera's proscription. It was here beneath the protection of this fortress of water that Leto gave birth to her daughter Artemis. It is said that Artemis came into the world without causing her mother to suffer any of the usual pain associated with childbirth. For this reason, Artemis was worshipped as the patron goddess of pregnant women. Though the goddess herself chose to remain a virgin, she was often called upon to aid expectant mothers with their deliveries. Shortly after her own birth, the young Artemis helped Leto across the narrow straits which led onto the floating isle of Delos.

Leto gratefully laid herself down between an olive tree and a date palm, and after nine hours of labor gave birth to her son Apollo. From that moment on, it was proclaimed that all births and deaths would be prohibited on Delos.

Pregnant women and persons of ill health were instead ferried across to the shore of Ortygia. Delos would never again be known as a floating island, for after Leto's stay there it became permenantly fixed in the sea.

When he was only four days old, the god Apollo took up the bow and arrows that were made especially for him by the god Hephaestus and set out to punish Python for the anguish and torment he caused his mother. The monster had returned to the caves of Parnassus where he spent his time ravishing the land. The beast tried to escape Apollo's attack by seeking sanctuary at the Oracle of Mother Earth, but the god ignored the shrine and brutally slew his enemy upon the holy ground.

Apollo buried the serpent, and in his honor instituted the Pythian games. The reinactment of the slaying of Python was often a part of the rites performed at the Delphic festivals of Apollo.

With the fall of Python so came the end of Gaia's rulership over the sacred ground. Apollo seized the oracle at Delphi from the Mother Goddess and placed his seat upon the "omphalos" or navel of the earth. It was believed that Zeus released two eagles from the opposite ends of the world, each meeting up with the other at this point in Delphi. The spot was marked by a stone cut in the shape of a beehive. Close by sat the oracle's prophetess Pythia, who was named after the slain serpent. She sat upon a three legged chair called a tripod, uttering her mystical predictions while in a trance like state. Because she was possessed by the spirit of the god, her words were usually cryptic murmurings that needed to be translated by the temple priests.

The Delphic Oracle was renown across the Mediterranean and visited by many people from many lands. They would travel from afar to ask the priestess for advice and find out answers to their own personal mysteries.

Most of the heros of the Greek tales have paid at least one visit to the Oracle at Delphi showing us how valued these predictions were in the ancient world. After hearing of her son's conquests, Leto and Artemis made the journey into Delphi. Before arriving they stopped at a well in Lycia, but because the peasants still feared Hera's anger, they refused to allow Leto to drink. As punishement for their less than hospitable welcome, Leto turned them all into frogs. Once reaching Delphi, she entered into a sacred grove, and thinking she was alone began to perform a private ritual. To her surprise she was interrupted by a giant called Tityus, who was also a son of Zeus.

While Leto was in the middle of her devotions, the lustful giant snuck up and tried to violate her. Fearing for her life, Leto screamed loudly and attracted the attention of Apollo and Artemis.

The two quickly came to their mother's rescue by entering into the grove and shooting Tityus to death with arrows. It has always been suspected that Hera was responsible for sending Tityus to assault Leto. Finding the behavior of his son to be unforgivable, Zeus insisted he receive a severe punishment. Upon his arrival in hades, Tityus was strapped tightly to the ground. There he would be visited by two vultures who would slowly devour his liver. Each night after the bird's departure, the organ would grow back to its normal size allowing the torture to resume in the morning.

Niobe

Throughout her life, Leto was often avenged by her children. This remains to be seen in the story of Niobe. Niobe was the daughter of Tantalus and the wife of Amphion, the co-ruler of Thebes. Known to be a proud woman, Niobe boasted that she had been blessed with seven sons and seven daughters, while Leto had only two children of her own. She went on to compare her own position of royalty with that of Leto's time of homeless wanderings. Believing that she was more deserving of the honors, Niobe urged the people of Thebes to offer their praise and sacrifices to her in the temple of Leto. Apollo and Artemis found these statements to be most offensive and decided they could not let them go unpunished.

They traveled from Mount Olympus to Thebes, where the two shot to death all of Niobe's children. The arrogant woman was so grief stricken that an endless flow of tears could be seen rolling down her cheeks. When she finally returned to Lydia she was turned into a stone on Mount Sipylus, where she can still be found weeping to this very day.

Medea's Lair Of Greek Mythology © 1999-2012.