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For other uses, see Leto (disambiguation).
Greek deities
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Primordial deities
Titans and Olympians
Aquatic deities
Chthonic deities
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In Greek mythology, Lētṓ (Greek: Λητώ, Λατώ, Lato in Dorian Greek, etymology and meaning disputed) is a daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe:[1] Kos claimed her birthplace. Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance The ancient Greeks proposed many different ideas about primordial deities in their mythology, which would later be largely adapted by the In Greek mythology, the Titans ( Greek: Tītā́n; plural Tītânes) were a race of powerful Deities that ruled during the legendary The Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon ( Greek: Δωδεκάθεον The ancient Greeks had a large number of sea deities. The philosopher Plato once remarked that the Greek people were like frogs sitting around a pond -- their Chthonic (from Greek χθόνιος khthonios "of the earth" from khthōn "earth" pertaining to the Earth; earthy subterranean In Greek mythology, the Muses ( Ancient Greek, hai moũsai: perhaps from the Proto-Indo-European root * men- "think" are Asclepius (pronounced /æsˈkliːpiːəs/, Greek, transliterated Asklēpiós; Latin Aesculapius) is the god of Medicine Medicine is the art and science of healing It encompasses a range of Health care practices evolved to maintain and restore Human Health by the In Greek mythology, Artemis language|Greek] ( Nominative), ( Genitive))] was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister Pan ( Greek, Genitive) is the Greek god of shepherds and flocks of mountain wilds hunting and rustic music paein means to pasture A shepherd is a person who tends to feeds or guards Sheep, especially in flocks In Greek mythology, a nymph is any member of a large class of mythological entities in human female form Attis (sometimes written as "Atys" was Cybele 's lover Eunuch attendant and driver of her lion-driven chariot Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly In Greek mythology, the Titans ( Greek: Tītā́n; plural Tītânes) were a race of powerful Deities that ruled during the legendary In Greek mythology, Coeus ( Ancient Greek:, Koios) was one of the Titans, the giant sons and daughters of Uranus (Heaven and In Greek mythology "golden-wreathed" Phoebe (Ancient Greek Φοίβη, Phoibe pronounced /'fiː Kos or Cos ( Greek: Κως Turkish: İstanköy; Italian: Coo formerly Stanchio in English is a Greek [2] In the Olympian scheme of things, Zeus is the father of her twins,[3] Apollo and Artemis, the Letoides. Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology In Greek mythology, Artemis language|Greek] ( Nominative), ( Genitive))] was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister For the classical Greeks, Leto is scarcely to be conceived apart from being pregnant and finding a suitable place to be delivered of Apollo, the second of her twins. [4] This is her one active mythic role: once Apollo and Artemis are grown, Leto withdraws, to remain a dim[5] and benevolent matronly figure upon Olympus, her part already played.

In Roman mythology, Leto's equivalent is Latona, a Latinization of her name. Roman mythology, or more appropriately Latin mythology, refers to the mythological beliefs of the Italic people inhabiting the region of Latium and its

In Crete, at the city of Dreros, Spyridon Marinatos uncovered an eighth-century post-Minoan hearth house temple in which there were found three unique figures of Apollo, Artemis and Leto made of brass sheeting hammered over a shaped core. Crete ( Greek: Κρήτη transliteration: Krētē, modern transliteration Kriti) is the largest of the Greek islands and the Dreros (modern Driros) near Neapolis in the district of Lassithi, Crete, is a post-Minoan archaeological site 16 km Spyridon Nikolaou Marinatos ( Greek:, November 4, 1901 &ndash October 1, 1974) was one of the premier Greek The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization which arose on the island of Crete. Walter Burkert notes (in Greek Religion) that in Phaistos she appears in connection with an initiation cult. Walter Burkert (born Neuendettelsau, Bavaria, February 2, 1931) a scholar of Greek mythology and cult, is an emeritus Phaistos (Φαιστός also transliterated as Phaestos, Festos and Phaestus is an ancient city on the Island of Crete

Leto was the principal goddess of Anatolian Lycia. "Sidyma" redirects here For the Moth Genus named thus see Sidyma (moth. Her sanctuary, the Letoon near Xanthos, united the Lycian confederacy of city-states. The sanctuary of Leto called the Letoon, sometimes Latinized as Letoum, near Xanthos, was one of the most important religious centers of the Lycian Xanthos ( Lycian: Arñna, Greek: Ξάνθος was the name of a city in ancient Lycia, the site of present day Kınık, The people of Kos also claimed Leto as their own. Kos or Cos ( Greek: Κως Turkish: İstanköy; Italian: Coo formerly Stanchio in English is a Greek Another sanctuary, more recently identified, was at Oenoanda in the north of Lycia. Oenoanda or Oinoanda, in the upper valley of the River Xanthus, was the most southerly of the Tetrapolis led by Cibyra in the Hellenistic Period [6] There was, of course, a further Letoon at Delos.

A measure of what a primal goddess Leto was can be recognized in her father and mother. Her Titan father is called "Coeus," and his obscure name[7] links him to the sphere of heaven from pole to pole. [8] Leto's mother "Phoebe" is precisely the "bright, purifying" epithet of the full moon. [9]

Contents

Origin and meaning of name

Several explanations have been put forward to explain the origin of the goddess and the meaning of her name. Possibly related to "lethe" (oblivion) and "Lotus" (the fruit that brings oblivion to those who eat it). Lotus Eaters and Lotos Eaters redirects here For other uses see The Lotus Eaters. It would thus mean "the hidden one". [10] It is most likely to have a Lycian origin, as her earliest cult was centered there. Leto may have the same Lycian origin as "Leda", meaning "woman/wife" in ancient Lycian. Lycian (Lycian Trm̃mili) is a modern adjective meaning in this case the inscriptional language of ancient Lycia as well as its presumed spoken counterpart

Birth of Artemis and Apollo

When Hera, the most conservative of goddesses — for she had the most to lose in changes to the order of nature —[11] discovered that Leto was pregnant and that Zeus was the father, she realized that the offspring would cement the new order. In the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology, Hera (ˈhɪərə or /ˈhɛrə/ Greek) or Here ( in Ionic and Homer She was powerless to stop the flow of events, but she banned Leto from giving birth on "terra firma", the mainland, any island at sea, or any place under the sun[12] Some mythographers hinted that Leto came down from the land of the Hyperboreans in the guise of a she-wolf, or that she sought out the "wolf-country" of Lycia for her denning. In Greek mythology, according to tradition the Hyperboreans were a mythical people who lived far to the north of Thrace. Most accounts agree that she found the barren floating island of Delos, which was neither mainland nor a real island, and gave birth there, promising the island wealth from the worshippers who would flock to the obscure birthplace of the splendid god who was to come. The island of Delos ( Greek: Δήλος Dhilos) isolated in the centre of the roughly circular ring of islands called the Cyclades, near Mykonos The island was surrounded by swans. As a gesture of gratitude, Delos was secured with four pillars and later became sacred to Apollo.

It is remarkable that Leto brought forth Artemis, the elder twin, without struggle or pain — as if she were merely revealing another manifestation of herself. Leto labored for nine nights and nine days for Apollo, according to the Homeric Hymn to Delian Apollo, in the presence of all the first among the deathless goddesses as witnesses: Dione, Rhea, Ichnaea, Themis and the "loud-moaning" sea-goddess Amphitrite. The thirty-three anonymous Homeric Hymns celebrating individual gods are a collection of ancient Greek Hymns "Homeric" in the sense that they employ the Dione in Greek mythology is a vague goddess presence who has her most concrete form in Book V of Homer 's Iliad as the mother of Aphrodite Rhea ( ancient Greek) was the Titaness daughter of Uranus, the sky and Gaia, the earth in classical Greek mythology Nemesis (in Greek,) also called Rhamnousia/Rhamnusia ("the Goddess of Rhamnous " at her sanctuary at For other uses see Themis (disambiguation. In Greek mythology, Hesiod mentions Themis (Θέμις among the six sons and six daughters of Gaia In ancient Greek mythology, Amphitrite (Ἀμφιτρίτη (not to be confused with Aphrodite) was a sea-goddess Only Hera kept apart, perhaps to kidnap Eileithyia or Ilithyia, the goddess of childbirth, to prevent Leto from going into labor. Eileithyia (Εἰλείθυια was the Cretan goddess whom Greek mythology adapted as the goddess of childbirth and midwifery Instead Artemis, having been born first, assisted with the birth of Apollo. Another version states that Artemis was born one day before Apollo, on the island of Ortygia, and that she helped Leto cross the sea to Delos the next day to give birth to Apollo. Ortygia is an island near the city of Syracuse Sicily. The island also known as Città Vecchia (Old City contains many historical landmarks

Leto was threatened and assailed in her wanderings by chthonic monsters of the ancient earth and old ways, and these became the enemies of Apollo and Artemis. Chthonic (from Greek χθόνιος khthonios "of the earth" from khthōn "earth" pertaining to the Earth; earthy subterranean One was the Titan Tityos, a phallic being who grew so vast that he split his mother's womb and had to be carried to term by Gaia herself. Gaia (ˈgeɪə or /ˈgaɪə/ (" land " or " Earth " from the Ancient Greek Γαîα also Gæa or Gea He attempted to waylay Leto near Delphi, but was laid low by the arrows of Apollo— or possibly Artemis, as another myth-teller recalled. Delphi ( Greek,) ( pronounce and dialectal forms) is an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western

Another ancient earth creature that had to be overcome was the dragon Pytho, or Python, which lived in a cleft of the mother-rock beneath Delphi and beside the Castalian Spring. In Greek mythology Python, serpent, was the earth-dragon of Delphi, always represented in sculpture and vase-paintings as a serpent. The Castalian Spring, in the Ravine between the Phaedriades at Delphi, is where all visitors to Delphi &mdash the contestants in the Pythian Games Apollo slew it but had to do penance and be cleansed afterwards, since Python was a child of Gaea. Sometimes the slaying was said to be because Python had brutally raped Leto while pregnant with Apollo and Artemis, but one way or another, it was necessary that the ancient Delphic Oracle pass to the protection of the new god. PYTHIA is a computer simulation program for particle collisions at very high energies (see Event (particle physics) in Particle accelerators

A Queen of Thebes and wife of Amphion, Niobe boasted of her superiority to Leto because she had fourteen children (Niobids), seven male and seven female, while Leto had only two. Thebes ( Classic Greek Θῆβαι, Mod Θήβα) is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range which divides This article is about Amphion in Greek and mythology For naval vessels named Amphion see HMS Amphion, Swedish Amphion and USS Amphion, and for speakers Niobe (Νιόβη was the daughter of the semi-legendary ruler Tantalus, called the " Phrygian " and sometimes even as "King of Phrygia Niobe (Νιόβη was the daughter of the semi-legendary ruler Tantalus, called the " Phrygian " and sometimes even as "King of Phrygia For her hubris, Apollo killed her sons as they practiced athletics, with the last begging for his life, and Artemis her daughters. Hubris, sometimes spelled hybris ( Ancient Greek ὕβρις is a term used in modern English to indicate overweening Pride, self-confidence Apollo and Artemis used poisoned arrows to kill them, though according to some versions a number of the Niobids were spared (Chloris, usually). This article is about "Chloris" in Greek Mythology For the Genus of tufted grasses in the Poaceae family also known as "Finger grass" and Amphion, at the sight of his dead sons, either killed himself or was killed by Zeus after swearing revenge. A devastated Niobe fled to Mount Sipylus in Asia Minor and either turned to stone as she wept or killed herself. Mount Spil (elevation 1513 m the ancient Mount Sipylus (in Turkish Spil Dağı) is a mountain rich in legends and history situated near Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black Her tears formed the river Achelous. In Greek mythology, Achelous (English ækɨˈloʊəs Greek: (Achelōos was the patron deity of the "silver-swirling" Acheloos River, which Zeus had turned all the people of Thebes to stone so no one buried the Niobids until the ninth day after their death, when the gods themselves entombed them.

Leto was intensely worshipped in Lycia, Asia Minor. Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black In Delos and Athens she was worshipped primarily as an adjunct to her children. Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's Herodotus reported[13] a temple to her in Egypt supposedly attached to a floating island[14] called "Khemmis" in Buto, which also included a temple to an Egyptian god Greeks identified by interpretatio graeca as Apollo. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Akhmim ( Arabic اخميم, from Egyptian Khent-min, through Coptic Khmin) is a city in Buto or Butos or Butosos ( Greek:, Herod ii 59 63 155, Steph B Interpretatio graeca is a Latin term for the common tendency of Ancient Greek writers to equate foreign divinities to members of their own pantheon There, Herodotus was given to understand, the goddess whom Greeks recognised as Leto was worshipped in the form of Wadjet, the cobra-headed goddess of Lower Egypt.

Witnesses at the birth of Apollo

According to the Homeric hymn, the goddesses who assembled to be witnesses at the birth of Apollo were responding to a public occasion in the rites of a dynasty, where the authenticity of the child must be established beyond doubt from the first moment. The dynastic rite of the witnessed birth must have been familiar to the hymn's 8th-century hearers. The dynasty that is so concerned to be authenticated in this myth is the new dynasty of Zeus and the Olympian Pantheon, and the goddesses at Delos who bear witness to the rightness of the birth are the great goddesses of the old order. The Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon ( Greek: Δωδεκάθεον Demeter is not present; her mother Rhea attends. Demeter (dɨˈmiːtɚ Greek:, possibly "distribution-mother" from the noun of the Indo-European mother-earth * dheghom * mater Aphrodite, a generation older than Zeus, is not present either. The goddess Dione (in her name simply the "Goddess") is sometimes taken by later mythographers as a mere feminine form of Zeus (see entry Dodona): if this were so, she would not have assembled here. Dodona (from Doric Greek Δωδώνα Ionic Greek: Δωδώνη - Dodone) in Epirus in northwestern Greece, was a prehistoric

Leto of the golden spindle

Pindar calls the goddess Leto Chryselakatos (Sixth Nemean Ode, 36), an epithet that was attached to her daughter Artemis as early as Homer. Pindar (ˈpɪndɚ (or Pindarus, Greek:) (probably born 522 BC in Cynoscephalae a village in Boeotia; died 443 BC in Argos) was an Ancient An epithet (from Greek ἐπίθετον - epitheton, neut of ἐπίθετος - epithetos, "attributed added" is a Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the [15] "The conception of a goddess enthroned like a queen and equipped with a spindle seems to have originated in Asiatic worship of the Great Mother", O. Originally a Hittite and Phrygian Goddess, Cybele (Κυβέλη was a deification of the Earth Mother and was worshipped in Brendel notes, but a lucky survival of an inscribed inventory of her temple on Delos, where she was the central figures of the Delian trinity, records her cult image as sitting on a wooden throne, clothed in a linen chiton and a linen himation. In the practice of Religion, a cult image is a man-made object that is venerated for the Deity, spirit or Daemon that it embodies or represents A chiton ( Ancient Greek khitōn (χιτών was a form of clothing in Ancient Greece, worn by both women and men A himation was a type of clothing in ancient Greece It was usually worn over a chiton, but was made of heavier drape and played the role of a Cloak. [16]

The Lycian peasants

According to Ovid's Metamorphoses, when Leto was wandering the earth after giving birth to Apollo and Artemis, she attempted to drink water from a pond in Lycia. Publius Ovidius Naso ( March 20, 43 BC – 17 AD was a Roman poet known to the English -speaking world as Ovid who wrote on many topics including The Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid is a narrative poem "Sidyma" redirects here For the Moth Genus named thus see Sidyma (moth. [17] The peasants there refused to allow her to do so by stirring the mud at the bottom of the pond. Leto turned them into frogs for their inhospitality, forever doomed to swim in the murky waters of ponds and rivers. This scene is represented in the central fountain, the Bassin de Latone, in the garden terrace of Versailles. The Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal Château in Versailles, in France 's Île-de-France region

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Hesiod, Theogony 403. Theogony ( Greek: Θεογονία theogonia = the birth of God(s is a Poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies
  2. ^ Herodotus 2. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash 98; Diodorus Siculus2. 47. 2.
  3. ^ Pindar consistently refers to Apollo and Artemis as twins; other sources instead give separate birthplaces for the siblings.
  4. ^ Karl Kerenyi notes, The Gods of the Greeks 1951:130, "His twin sister is usually already on the scene. One of the founders of modern studies in Greek mythology, Károly (Carl Karl Kerényi ( January 19, 1897 &ndash April 14 1973 "
  5. ^ Hesiod, Theogony 406; "dark-veiled Leto" (Orphic Hymn 35, To Leto
  6. ^ Alan Hall, "A Sanctuary of Leto at Oenoanda" Anatolian Studies 27 (1977) pp 193-197. Theogony ( Greek: Θεογονία theogonia = the birth of God(s is a Poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies Orphism (more rarely Orphicism) is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices in the ancient Greek and Thracian world associated with literature
  7. ^ Herbert Jennings Rose, A Handbook of Greek Mythology (1991:21) found his name and nature uncertain. Herbert Jennings Rose ( 5 May 1883 — 31 July 1961) is remembered as the author of A Handbook of Greek Mythology, originally published
  8. ^ In the surviving summary of the preface to Hyginus, Koios is translated literally, as Polus: "From Polus and Phoebe: Latone, Asterie. Gaius Julius Hyginus (ca 64 BC &ndash AD 17 was a Latin author but whether a native of Spain or of Alexandria is not sure a pupil of the famous "
  9. ^ Φοιβη (Phoibe), "bright, pure"; Rose 1991:21 noted that an explicit connection with the moon was only made by later writers, which would have left a sun-Titan but no moon-Titan.
  10. ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. , at Theoi.com
  11. ^ See Hera. In the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology, Hera (ˈhɪərə or /ˈhɛrə/ Greek) or Here ( in Ionic and Homer
  12. ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 140). Gaius Julius Hyginus (ca 64 BC &ndash AD 17 was a Latin author but whether a native of Spain or of Alexandria is not sure a pupil of the famous
  13. ^ Herodotus, Histories, 2. 155-56
  14. ^ "The claim that it floated is rightly dismissed by Herodotus — it probably reflects nothing more than contamination by Greek traditions on the floating island of Ortygia/Delos associated with Leto," remarks Alan B. Lloyd, "The temple of Leto (Wadjet) at Buto", in Anton Powell, ed. The Greek World (Routledge) 1995:190.
  15. ^ O. Brendel, Römische Mitt. 51 (1936), p 60ff.
  16. ^ O. Brendel, noting Pierre Roussel, Délos, colonie athénienne (Paris: Boccard) 1916, p 221, in "The Corbridge Lanx" The Journal of Roman Studies 31 (1941), pp. 100-127) p 113ff, a discussion of the seated female figure he identifies as Leto on the Roman silver tray (lanx) at Alnwick Castle. Alnwick Castle is a Castle and Stately home in Alnwick, Northumberland, England and the residence of the Duke of Northumberland
  17. ^ The spring Melite, according to Kerenyi 1951:131.

External links

Dictionary

Leto

-proper noun

  1. (Greek mythology) In Greek mythology, the mother of Apollo and Artemis
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