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Apollo and Artemis

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        Despite the fact that Zeus was already married to Hera, he would still go down to the mortal world and have other relationships. One of these relationships was with Leto, the Titan daughter of Coeus and Phoebe. Because Hera wanted to be the only one, she was always mad at him. 

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        Once Hera found out about Leto, she was enraged. Hera called down a curse in hopes of stopping Leto from giving birth.

 

        “Hear me nature spirits! Any nature spirits with lands tied down shall deny Leto the comfort of stopping to rest,” Hera proclaimed. 

 

        Hera could not simply will Leto not to give birth, for curses had to be specific or else they would fail to work. Not only this, but Hera sent the giant snake Python to chase Leto across the world, further keeping her on the run. 

 

        Leto ran for several weeks on end, clutching her ever fertile womb, before Zeus finally took notice. 

 

        “Go to the island of Delos,” Zeus instructed her. “It is not bound by Hera’s curse for it is not tied down to the earth; it is a floating piece of rock adrift in the sea.”

 

        Leto was wandering along the coast of Greece searching for Delos when she spotted something on the horizon. The nature spirits of Delos also noticed her, so they willed themselves to drift closer to her so she could climb aboard the floating island. As Delos drifted nearer, Leto paced back and forth along the shore, the hiss of Python growing closer. 

 

        Just then, Python appeared above the crest of a nearby hill and prepared to strike for the kill. Leto leaped backwards, hoping that Delos had made it in time to catch her. She landed on the rocky ground of Delos. As the island floated away from the hissing snake, she stared back into its eyes as Python slithered back toward its cave.

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        At this point, Leto was ready to give birth. The Dryads, the tree spirits, assisted in the birth. To their surprise, there were two babies. 

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        The first newborn was a girl and Leto decided to name her Artemis. Artemis began to stir and age before their eyes until she was a toddler.

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        “Hey!” she squeaked. “Let me help out here.”

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        The Dryads looked at each other, confused, but decided that they needed the extra help.  

 

        Within the next few minutes, Apollo was born and just like his twin sister, he became a toddler within seconds. He broke into a song about his mother, Leto, and her travels. Meanwhile, the nature spirits of Delos anchored themselves to the sea floor in honor of the two new gods.

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        Later on, Apollo would travel to Python’s cave in Delphi and kill the snake, transforming the cave into the first and most important cave of the Oracle.