Leto

Zeus' wife Hera enlisted the help of Gaia, the goddess of the earth, to ensure that Leto would find no place on earth where she could bear her children. Even this was not enough for Hera, however, and she sent the serpent Python after Leto to kill her. Létó was rescued on the island of Délos, which was cut off from the earth and therefore Gaia had no power there. As soon as Létó entered the island, rocks rose from the sea and stopped Python. Poseidon, the ruler of the seas, then anchored the island to the seabed.

One last time Hera tried to prevent the birth by concealing it from the goddess of happy births (Eileithyia). However, the goddess Iris came to Leto's aid and told Eileithyia about the birth. Létó subsequently gave birth to Apollo, god of the sun and light, and Artemis, goddess of the hunt.

Niobe was the wife of the Theban king Amphion and she exalted herself over Leto, that while she bore seven sons and seven daughters, Leto bore only two children. However, her pride was severely punished by both Apollo and Artemis (Apollo killed all of Niobe's sons with his arrows and Artemis killed six of her seven daughters, again with arrows). Consequently, Niobe and her last daughter were petrified. Amphion wanted revenge, so he and his brother Zethus attacked Apollo's sanctuary at Delphi. But they paid the price with their own lives, and Apollo shot them with arrows.