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62-756: The theme of the Latona Fountain is taken from the myth of Latona (the Roman incarnation of the Greek goddess Leto ), as vividly told in Book VI of the Metamorphoses of Ovid . Latona bore the gods Apollo and Diana by Zeus , which incurred the hatred of Zeus' consort Juno . She forbade any mortals to give hospitality to Latona and her children, who were forced to wander the earth fleeing Juno's persecution, until at last they came to Lycia . A thirsty Latona attempted to drink from

124-607: A cobra goddess, however other Egyptian gods and goddesses were also connected to shrew mice. Additionally, the Egyptians would embalm small animals like ichneumons and shrew mice and put their mummies in bronze containers. Leto also took part in the Trojan War , on the Trojans' side, along with her children Apollo and Artemis. When Apollo saved Aeneas from the battlefield, he brought him to one of his own temples in nearby Pergamus, where he

186-476: A great hunter he could kill every animal on earth, angering Gaia who sent a giant scorpion to kill him. In one version, Orion dies after pushing Leto out of the scorpion's way. Afterwards, Leto (and Artemis) placed Orion among the stars (the constellation Orion ). Clinis was a rich Babylonian man who deeply respected Apollo. Having witnessed the Hyperboreans sacrifice donkeys to Apollo, he attempted to do

248-501: A local pond, but the inhabitants , obeying Juno's command, waded into the water and kicked up the mud from the bottom of the pond, so that Latona and her children could not drink. Enraged at their treatment of her, Latona cursed the Lycians to live in their pond forever, and they were transformed into frogs as punishment. The fountain was begun in 1670 by André Le Nôtre , then enlarged and modified by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in 1686. In 1667

310-514: A mortal woman who gave birth to Apollo . Leto is the daughter of the Titans Phoebe and Coeus . Her sister is Asteria , who is, by the Titan Perses , the mother of Hecate . Leto is also sometimes called the daughter of Coeus with no mother specified. The island of Kos , in the southeast Aegean Sea , is claimed to be her birthplace. However, Diodorus Siculus states clearly that Leto

372-581: 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 Python , a giant serpent, 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

434-459: A pond in Lycia. 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. Python (mythology) In Greek mythology , Python ( Greek : Πύθων ; gen . Πύθωνος) was the serpent , sometimes represented as a medieval -style dragon , living at

496-461: 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 hearers. The dynasty that is so concerned about being authenticated in this myth is the new dynasty of Zeus and the Olympian Pantheon , and the goddesses at Delos who bear witness to

558-452: A scholium on the Iliad that claims to report Theagenes 's interpretation of the gods' battle, Hermes here represents reason and rationality ( λόγος , "logos") as opposed to Leto, who stands in for forgetfulness ( λήθη , "lethe", perhaps a wordplay on Leto's name). After Orion 's sight was restored, he met with Artemis and Leto and joined them in hunting, where he bragged about being such

620-418: A she-wolf, or that she sought out the "wolf-country" of Lycia, formerly called Tremilis, which she renamed to honour wolves that had befriended her. Another late source, Aelian , also links Leto with wolves and Hyperboreans: Wolves are not easily delivered of their young, only after twelve days and twelve nights, for the people of Delos maintain that this was the length of time that it took Leto to travel from

682-562: A stone and, holding Apollo in her hands, cried ἵε παῖ ( híe paî , meaning "shoot, child") to him, who was holding a bow and arrows. The politics are conjectural, but the myth reports that Zeus ordered Apollo to purify himself for the sacrilege and instituted the Pythian Games , over which Apollo was to preside, as penance for his act. Erwin Rohde wrote that the Python was an earth spirit, who

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744-675: Is Latona , a Latinization of her name, influenced by the Etruscan Letun . In ancient art, she is presented as a modest, veiled woman in the presence of her children and Zeus, or in the process of being carried off by Tityos. 'Leto' is Attic Greek ; in the Doric Greek dialect, spoken in Sparta and the surrounding areas her name was spelled Lato with an alpha instead ( Ancient Greek : Λατώ , romanized :  Latṓ ; pronounced [laːtɔ̌ː] ). There are several explanations for

806-514: Is a goddess and 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. Classical Greek myths record little about Leto other than her pregnancy and search for

868-495: Is a slightly later poet, Pindar. The two earliest poets, Homer and Hesiod , confirm Artemis and Apollo's status as full siblings born to Leto by Zeus, but neither explicitly makes them twins. According to the Homeric Hymn 3 to Delian Apollo , Leto travelled far and wide to find a place to give birth, but none of them dared be the birthplace of Apollo. After having arrived at Delos, she labored for nine nights and nine days, in

930-456: Is ever glad for having borne the king of gods such a splendid son and archer. According to the Bibliotheca , "But Latona for her intrigue with Zeus was hunted by Hera over the whole earth, till she came to Delos and brought forth first Artemis, by the help of whose midwifery she afterwards gave birth to Apollo." Antoninus Liberalis hints that Leto came down from Hyperborea in the guise of

992-470: Is found at Olympus among the other gods, having gained her seat next to Zeus, or accompanying and helping her son and daughter in their various endeavors. In antiquity, Leto was usually worshipped in conjunction with her twin children, particularly in the sacred island of Delos, as a kourotrophic deity, the goddess of motherhood; in Lycia she was a mother goddess . In Roman mythology , Leto's Roman equivalent

1054-435: Is remarkable that Leto brought forth Artemis, the elder twin, without travail. Libanius wrote that neither land nor visible islands would receive Leto, but by the will of Zeus Delos then became visible, and thus received Leto and the children. According to Hyginus , when Hera discovered that Leto was pregnant by Zeus, she banned Leto from giving birth on " terra firma ", the mainland, any island at sea, or any place under

1116-444: Is said to have despaired at the sight of his unkempt and disheveled locks, which had been admired by even Hera. Praxilla wrote that Carneus was a son of Zeus and Europa , and that he was brought up by Apollo and Leto. Leto's introduction into Lycia was met with resistance. There, according to Ovid 's Metamorphoses , when Leto was wandering the earth after giving birth to Apollo and Artemis, she attempted to drink water from

1178-505: The Orphic Hymn 35 to Leto describes her as "dark-veiled" and "goddess who gave birth to twins" ( θεός διδυματόκος ). In the Homeric Hymn to Apollo , she is described as golden-haired. Hesiod makes her the sixth out of the seven wives of Zeus, who bore his children before his marriage to Hera, however this element is absent in later accounts, all of which speak of a liaison between

1240-474: The Cyclopes in revenge for Zeus slaying his son Asclepius , a gifted healer who could bring the dead back to life, with a thunderbolt, Zeus was about to punish Apollo by throwing him into Tartarus , but Leto interceded for him, and Apollo became bondman to a mortal king named Admetus instead. Apollo happily served Admetus, and enthusiastically undertook several domestic chores during his servitude with him. Leto

1302-655: The Ecdysia ("stripping naked") festival in her honour. In one version, Leto, along with her daughter Artemis, stood before Zeus with tearful eyes while her son Apollo pleaded with him to release Prometheus (the god who had stolen fire from the gods, give them to humans, and was subsequently chained in the Caucasus with an eagle feasting on his liver each day for punishment) from his eternal torment. Zeus, moved by Artemis and Leto's tears and Apollo's words, agreed instantly and commanded Heracles to free Prometheus. When Apollo killed

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1364-475: The chthonic enemy of the later Olympian deity Apollo , who slew it and took over Python's former home and oracle. These were the most famous and revered in the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. Like many monsters, Python was known as Gaia 's son and prophesied as Gaia's son. In turn, Apollo had to eliminate him before he could establish a temple in Delphi. There are various versions of Python's birth and death at

1426-586: The Hyperboreoi to Delos. Leto found the barren floating island of Delos, still bearing its archaic name of Asterios, 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. As a gesture of gratitude, Delos was secured with four pillars and later became sacred to Apollo. Callimachus states that not only did every place on earth refuse to give sanctuary to Leto out of fear of Hera, but

1488-450: The Python, who was a bane to the people. He slew the serpent and declared himself as the owner of the Oracular shrine. The version related by Hyginus holds that when Zeus lay with the goddess Leto , and she became pregnant with Artemis and Apollo, Hera was jealous and sent Python to pursue Leto throughout the lands, to prevent her from giving birth to the twin gods. Thus, when Apollo

1550-468: The capture by Hellenes of a pre-Hellenic shrine. "To placate local opinion at Delphi," he wrote in The Greek Myths , "regular funeral games were instituted in honor of the dead hero Python, and her priestess was retained in office." According to an epigram from 159 BC, it seems that Python in particular meant to rape Leto. Clearchus of Soli wrote that while Python was pursuing them, Leto stepped on

1612-581: The center of the Earth , believed by the ancient Greeks to be at Delphi . Python, sometimes written Pytho, presided at the Delphic oracle , which existed in the cult center for its mother, Gaia , "Earth", Pytho being the place name that was substituted for the earlier Krisa . Greeks considered the site to be the center of the Earth , represented by a stone, the omphalos or navel, which Python guarded. Python became

1674-412: The deathless gods, mild from the beginning," the gentlest goddess in all Olympus . Plato also makes references to Leto's softness when trying to link etymologically her name to the word ἐθελήμονα ("willing", i.e. to assist those asking for her help), as well as λεῖον ("mild"). Next to Demeter , Leto was the most celebrated mother of the ancient world. Hesiod describes Leto as "dark-gowned" and

1736-575: The enemies of Apollo and Artemis for attempting to cause harm to their mother. One of the monsters that came across Leto was the dragon Python , which lived in a cleft of the mother-rock beneath Delphi and beside the Castalian Spring . Once Python knew that Leto was pregnant to Zeus, he hunted her down with the intention to harm her, and once he could not find her, he returned to Parnassus . An epigram from 159 BC seems to imply that Python in particular wanted to rape Leto. According to some, Python

1798-429: The fountain. In the story of Niobe , Queen Niobe boasts of being a better mother than Leto due to having given birth to a greater number of children than the goddess. Leto then asks her twin children to avenge her, and they respond by shooting all of Niobe's sons and daughters dead as punishment. In another myth, the gigantic Tityos attempts to violate Leto, only for him to be slain by Artemis and Apollo. Usually, Leto

1860-460: The goddesses changed them into birds before they could be killed by the donkeys. In Crete lived a poor couple, Galatea and Lamprus. When Galatea fell pregnant, Lamprus warned her that if the child turned out to be female, he would expose it. Galatea gave birth while Lamprus was away, and the infant proved indeed to be a girl. Galatea, fearing her husband, lied to him and told him it was a boy instead whom she named Leucippus ("white horse"). But as

1922-453: The hands of Apollo. In the Homeric Hymn to Apollo , now thought to have been composed in 522 BCE when the archaic period in Greek history was giving way to the Classical period, a small detail is provided regarding Apollo's combat with the serpent, in some sections identified as the deadly drakaina , or her parent. The god searching for a place to establish his shrine, reached Delphi and saw

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1984-623: The missing sections of the Siphnian frieze from Delphi, another relief depiction of the battle of the gods against the Giants. When the gigantic Typhon attacked Olympus, all the gods transformed into animals and fled to Egypt terrified, or alternatively Typhon attacked them once they had assembled in Egypt in great numbers. Leto turned into a shrew mouse. Leto was equated with the Egyptian goddess Wadjet ,

2046-425: The myth of Semele and her son Dionysus , another story of a mortal woman who bore an important son for Zeus and was punished by Hera for that. Yet at the same time Hesiodic tradition makes her the daughter of two Titans, elder gods, and one of Zeus' first seven wives. Leto's peculiar mythology and ontology has led to suggestions that she might be a composite of two figures, an immortal goddess who bore Artemis , and

2108-510: The older tales mentioned two dragons who were perhaps intentionally conflated. A female dragon named Delphyne ( Δελφύνη ; cf. δελφύς , "womb"), and a male serpent Typhon ( Τυφῶν ; from τύφειν , "to smoke"), the adversary of Zeus in the Titanomachy , who the narrators confused with Python. Python was the good daemon (ἀγαθὸς δαίμων) of the temple as it appears in Minoan religion, but she

2170-411: The origin of the Greek name Λήδα Leda . Other scholars ( Kretschmer , Bethe , Chantraine , and Beekes ) have suggested a pre-Greek origin. In Mycenaean Greek her name has been attested through the form Latios , meaning "son of Leto" or "related to Leto" ( Linear B : 𐀨𐀴𐀍 , ra-ti-jo ), and Lato (Linear B: 𐀨𐀵 , ra-to ). Leto was identified from the fourth century onwards as

2232-435: The origin of the goddess and the meaning of her name. Older sources speculated that the name is related to the Greek λήθη lḗthē ( lethe , oblivion ) and λωτός lotus (the fruit that brings oblivion to those who eat it). It would thus mean "the hidden one". In 20th century sources Leto is traditionally derived from Lycian lada , "wife", as her earliest cult was centered in Lycia . Lycian lada may also be

2294-480: The palace. Hardouin-Mansart designed a much grander fountain of four oval tiers forming a pyramid, topped by Gaspard Marsy's statue (looking west over the gardens and the Grand Canal rather than towards the palace) and enhanced all around with the original figures of Balthazard Marsy and an assortment of gilded frogs and lizards sculpted by Claude Bertin . The four tiers are covered in 230 pieces of marble, composed of

2356-463: The presence of Dione, Rhea , Ichnaea , Themis and the sea-goddess Amphitrite . Only Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, was not present; she, unaware of the situation, was with jealous Hera on Olympus. Her absence, which was preventing Leto from giving birth, kept her in labor for nine days. According to the Homeric hymn, the goddesses who assembled to witness the birth of Apollo were responding to

2418-531: The principal local mother goddess of Anatolian Lycia , as the region became Hellenized. In Greek inscriptions, the children of Leto are referred to as the "national gods" of the country. Her sanctuary, the Letoon near Xanthos , predated Hellenic influence in the region, however, united the Lycian confederacy of city-states. The Hellenes of Kos also claimed Leto as their own. Another sanctuary, more recently identified,

2480-419: The queen of gods had also deployed Ares and Iris to drive Leto away from anywhere she tried to settle in, so she would not give birth to her twins. Leto considered the island of Kos for a birthplace, but Apollo, still in the womb, advised his mother against giving birth to him there, saying Kos was fated to be the birthplace of someone else . He later urged his mother to go to Delos. Callimachus wrote that it

2542-718: The re-gilding of the frog and lizard lead fixtures. The elaborate system of lead pipes underpinning the fountain was also repaired by the fountain engineers of Versailles. The fountain was formally reopened in May 2015. The Latona Fountain has been cited as inspiration for Buckingham Fountain in Chicago . 48°48′20″N 2°07′04″E  /  48.8055032°N 2.1176845°E  / 48.8055032; 2.1176845 Leto In ancient Greek mythology and religion , Leto ( / ˈ l iː t oʊ / ; Ancient Greek : Λητώ , romanized :  Lētṓ pronounced [lɛːtɔ̌ː] )

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2604-400: The rightness of the birth are the great goddesses of the old order. Demeter was not present and Aphrodite was not either, but Rhea attended. The goddess Dione (her name simply means "divine" or "she-Zeus") is sometimes taken by later mythographers as a mere feminine form of Zeus (see entry Dodona ). If that was the case, she would not have assembled there. Then, on the ninth day, Eileithyia

2666-431: The same, only to be prohibited by the god himself under pain of death. Clinis obeyed and sent the donkeys away, but two of his sons proceeded with the sacrifice anyway. Apollo, enraged, drove the donkeys mad which then began to devour the entire family. Leto and Artemis felt sorry for Clinis, his third son and his daughter, who had done nothing to deserve such fate. Apollo allowed his mother and sister to save those three, and

2728-429: The sculptor brothers Gaspard and Balthazard Marsy were employed to embellish the basin with statuary. Balthazard created six lead half-human, half-frog sculptures placed around the perimeter of the basin, and between 1668 and 1670 Gaspard created the main statuary group of Latona with Diana and Apollo. The statue was placed on a low foundation of rocks at the center of the fountain, from where Latona faced eastwards toward

2790-491: The sole exception (besides Leto) is found in the Suda , a late Byzantine lexicon which recounts the story of Hera cursing a pregnant Aphrodite 's belly, leading to the birth of Priapus . Moreover, Leto's troubled childbirth bears resemblance to Alcmene 's, as both suffered painful extended labours due to Hera not allowing Eileithyia , the goddess of childbirth, to help them, and both stories overall are also thematically linked to

2852-464: The sun. But Zeus then sent Boreas , the god of the north wind, to Leto, who brought her to Poseidon. Poseidon then raised high waves above Ortygia , shielding it from the light of the sun with a water dome; it was later called the island of Delos. There Leto, clinging to an olive tree, bore Apollo and Artemis after four days. According to the Homeric Hymn and the Orphic Hymn 35 to Leto , Artemis

2914-451: The twins, especially Apollo. Once Apollo and Artemis are born and grown, Leto withdraws, to remain a matronly figure upon Olympus, her part already played. Besides the myth of the birth of Artemis and Apollo, 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

2976-720: The two, that ended up in Leto falling pregnant. When Hera, the goddess of marriage and family, queen of the gods and the wife of Zeus, figured it out, she pursued her relentlessly. The Homeric Hymn 3 to Apollo is the oldest extant account of Leto's wandering and birth of her children, but it is only concerned with the birth of Apollo, and treats Artemis as an afterthought; in fact the hymn does not even state that Leto's children are twins, and they are given different birthplaces (he in Delos, she in Ortygia ). The first to speak of Leto's children being twins

3038-487: The white and grey-veined Cararra , greenish marble from Campan , and red marble from Languedoc . The Latona Fountain underwent an "emergency" renovation between 2013 and 2015, after it was determined that the integrity of the basin supporting the fountain was threatened. The fountain itself was in a serious state of neglect, requiring total dismantlement for off-site restoration of individual parts. This included 230 pieces of marble which were cleaned and repaired, as well as

3100-410: The years passed, Leucippus grew to be an exceptionally beautiful girl, and her true sex could no longer be concealed. Galatea fled to the temple of Leto, and prayed to the goddess to change Leucippus into an actual boy. Leto took pity in mother and child, and fulfilled Galatea's wish, changing Leucippus's sex into that of a boy's. To celebrate this, the people at Phaistos sacrificed to Leto Phytia during

3162-457: Was a child of Gaia, it was necessary that the ancient Delphic Oracle passed to the protection of the new god. Another one was the giant Tityos , a phallic being who grew so vast that he split his mother's womb and had to be carried to term by Gaia (the Earth) herself. He attempted to rape Leto near Delphi under the orders of Hera, like Python was, for having slept with Zeus, or alternatively he

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3224-506: Was at Oenoanda in the north of Lycia. There was a further Letoon at Delos . Leto is exceptional among Zeus ' divine lovers for being the only one who was tormented by Hera , who otherwise only directs her anger toward mortal women and nymphs, but not goddesses, thus being treated more in line with mortal women than divine beings in mythology. Zeus had various affairs with goddesses like Themis , Nemesis , Dione , Thetis , Selene , Persephone , and more, which were never harmed by Hera;

3286-428: Was born and was four days old he pursued Python, making his way straight for Mount Parnassus where the serpent dwelled and chased it to the oracle of Gaia at Delphi; there he dared to penetrate the sacred precinct and kill it with his arrows beside the rock cleft where the priestess sat on her tripod. Robert Graves , who habitually read into primitive myths a retelling of archaic political and social turmoil, saw in this

3348-446: Was born first because first came the night, whose instrument is the moon, which Artemis represents, and then the day, whose instrument is the sun, which Apollo represents. Pindar however writes that both twins shone like the sun when they came into the bright light. Leto was threatened and assailed in her wanderings by ancient earth creatures that had to be overcome, chthonic monsters of the ancient earth and old ways, and these became

3410-563: Was born in Hyperborea and not in Kos. Both sisters captured Zeus's heart; first Leto, and then Asteria, who caught his attention after Leto had already been impregnated with his twins. Unlike Leto, Asteria did not reciprocate his love. In Homeric texts, Leto is shown standing next to Zeus in the absence of Hera almost in the manner of a married wife, and not just one mistress among the many. Hesiod describes Leto as "always mild, kind to men and to

3472-537: Was born on the island of Ortygia before Apollo was on Delos. Stephanus of Byzantium also states that Artemis was born before Apollo, however he claims that she was born at Coressus. According to a local tradition, Apollo was not born on Delos at all, but in Tegyra, a town in Boeotia , where he was worshipped as Apollo Tegyraeus. Servius , a grammarian who lived during the late 300s AD and early 400s AD, wrote that Artemis

3534-461: Was conquered by Apollo, and buried under the omphalos and that it is a case of one god setting up his temple on the grave of another. The priestess of the oracle at Delphi became known as the Pythia, after the place-name Pytho, which Greeks explained as named after the rotting (πύθειν) of the slain serpent's corpse in the strength of Hyperion (day) or Helios (the sun). Karl Kerenyi notes that

3596-516: Was healed by Artemis and Leto. Later, when the gods battle each other, Leto supports the Trojans, standing opposite of Hermes , who supports the Achaeans. After witnessing Hera defeat Artemis and beating her with her own bow, and Artemis fleeing in tears, Hermes refuses to challenge Leto, encouraging her to simply tell everyone she beat him fair and square. Leto picks up Artemis's discarded bow and arrows and runs after her crying daughter. According to

3658-561: Was punished by having his liver being constantly eaten by two vultures in the Underworld . Leto fought alongside the other gods during the Gigantomachy , as evidenced from her depiction on the east frieze of the Pergamon Altar , fighting a Giant between her children Artemis and Apollo; None of the other Gigantomachy depictions includes Leto, although her presence is conjectured in one of

3720-490: Was sent by Hera herself to attack Leto, out of jealousy for having been preferred by Zeus and he knew of a prophecy that he would find death at the hands of Leto's unborn son. According to Clearchus of Soli , while Python was pursuing them, Leto stepped on a stone and, holding her son in her hands, cried ἵε παῖ ( híe paî , meaning "shoot, child") to Apollo, who was holding a bow and arrows. Apollo slew it but had to do penance and be cleansed afterward, since though Python

3782-541: Was sent for by the messenger goddess Iris , who persuaded her with a necklace and brought her to Delos. As soon as Eileithyia arrived, Apollo was finally allowed to be born, and was given ambrosia and nectar by Themis , rather than breastmilk. Preceding the myth of Apollo's birth, the preface of the hymn begins with the status quo that was then established, namely that Leto is now by the side of Zeus in Olympus, both proudly watching Apollo exercise his archery skills, and she

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3844-408: Was simply overwhelmed with lust when he saw her. Tityos took hold of Leto and attempted to force himself on her, but she called out for her children, and Tityos was laid low by the arrows of Apollo and/or Artemis, as Pindar recalled in a Pythian ode. As he laid dying, his mother Gaia moaned over her slain son; Leto only laughed. For the crime of having tried to rape Leto, one of Zeus' mistresses, he

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