“Latona and the Lycian Peasants” by David Teniers II. (17th century).
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Leto (which means”the hidden one”. Roman equivalent: Latona) was daughter of the Titans Coeus (Polus) and Phoebe and the sister of Asteria.
In the Olympian scheme, Zeus is the father of her twins, Apollo and Artemis, (The Letoides).
Zeus married is sister Hera while Leto was already pregnant. While the pregnancy started before the marriage, Hera was still jealous of Leto.
Hence, as Hyginus, in his book “Fabulae” states, Hera banned Leto from giving birth on any island at sea, or any place under the sun.
Finally, she found an island (Delos, that wasn’t attached to the ocean floor so it wasn’t considered land and she could give birth there.
Leto easily brought forth Artemis, the elder twin. By contrast, Leto labored for nine nights and nine days in order to give birth to Apollo.
The births took place in the presence of the witnesses goddesses Dione (an Oceanid, a water-nymph, the goddess Dione, in her name simply the “Goddess”, is sometimes taken as a mere feminine form of Zeus ), Rhea (mother of the Olympian Goddesses and Gods, but not as an Olympian goddess in her own right), Ichnaea (an epithet given to Nemesis), Themis (a Titaness, who was the personification of divine order and law) and the sea-goddess Amphitrite (Poseidon‘s wife).
Hera kept apart as she used her own daughter Eileithvia, the goddess of childbirth, to prevent Leto from going into labor.
Instead Artemis, having been born first, assisted with the birth of her twin brother, Apollo.
Going further, ancient greek grammarian, Antoninus Liberalis considers that Leto sought out the “wolf-country” of Lycia. Another sources link Leto with wolves and the Hyperboreans, people connected with the worship of Apollo at Delphi and of Artemis at Delos and named that way with reference to Boreas, the north wind.
Leto was identified from the fourth century onwards with the principal local mother goddess of Anatolian Lycia, as the region became Hellenized.
Besides, Leto has been probably identified with the Lycian Godess of Fertility, Lada, also knwon as Kourotrophos (Rearer of Youths).
Leto’s primal nature may be deduced from the natures of her father and mother, who may have been Titans of the sun and moon. Her Titan father is called “Coeus”, and, he is in some Roman sources given the name Polus, which may relate him to the sphere of heaven from pole to pole. The name of Leto’s mother, “Phoebe” (“pure, bright”), is identical to the epithet of her son Apollo.
In Greek inscriptions, the Letoides (Apollo and Artemis) are referred to as the “national gods” of the country.
There were two sanctuaries dedicated to Leto, the Letoon, near Xanthos and the Oenoanda, in the north of Lycia.
►Other episodes related to Leto:
In Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” (Book VI), he tells the sad story of Niobe’s children, which involves Leto, Artemis and Apollo.
•Niobe, a queen of Thebes, boasted of her superiority to Leto because she had fourteen children (The Niobids), seven sons and seven daughters, while Leto had only two. Aiming to punish Niobe due to her pride, Apollo killed her sons, and Artemis her daughters. Niobe cried so much that her tears formed the river Achelous.
Zeus seconded Leto as he made sure to turn 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 threatened in her wanderings by the giant Tityos who attempted to rape her. Also she was assailed by the dragon Python. In both occasions, Leto’s son, Apollo was able to eliminate the threats, even if he was just a God child.
•During her wanderings with her children, Apollo and Artemis, Leto reached Lycia (nowadays located in southern Turkey).
Exhausted, she decided to halt and saw down in a valley a pond around which peasants were busy gathering rushes and algae. Attracted by its clear water, she went to drink from it. But the peasants objected and forbade her from drinking from the pond, ordering Leto to leave the place.
Enraged, Leto cursed them. Soon after that, the metamorphosis began and the peasants of Lycia became frogs, as they were condemned to live forever like this in the slime of their pond, fulfilling the curse of Latona.
This last episeode is depicted in the Latona Fountain, at the Château de Versailles, France. This Fountain’s construction took, over twenty years (from 1666 to 1689) and it was built during Louis XIV’s reign.
Some historians have interpreted the Latona fountain as an allegory of the victory of Louis XIV over the Fronde, the rebellion of the nobles against the power of the monarchy during the childhood of Louis XIV. Latona, the mother of Apollo, represents Anne of Austria, the mother of Louis XIV and regent during the Fronde. The metamorphosis of the peasants into frogs illustrates the punishment reserved to those who dare to rebel against the royal authority.
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“Latona Turning the Lycians Peasants into Frogs”, by Johann Georg Platzer. (1730)
“Latona Changing the Lycian Peasants into Frogs” by Jacopo Tintoretto. (16th century).
“Landscape with Latona and the Peasants”, by Sinibaldo Scorza (1620).
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►”The Myth of Leto / Latona”:
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►Gallery: “Leto” / “The Latona Fountain” [Château de Versailles]:
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“Latona (Leto) and Her children (Apollo and Diana/Artemis)”, by William Henry Rinehart (1874). Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“Latona (Leto) and Her children (Apollo and Diana/Artemis)”, by William Henry Rinehart. (1874). Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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►Links Post:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leto
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/337395/Leto
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/279545/Hyperborean
http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/11923
http://latone.chateauversailles.fr/en/page/the-latona-fountain/history-of-the-latona-fountain
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►Book Tour:
“Olga Núñez Miret tells us about her Trilogy Angelic Business“:
🔥💥In this ocassion, Olga is close to oficially release a book trilogy, which is already available for pre-order at Amazon… Let’s listen to what she has to say about it!… It is all yours, Olga!… 💥🔥
I’ve been writing since I was quite young and I write in whatever style the story I have in my head wants to be written in. So far literary fiction, romance, YA, thriller… and a few unfinished works.
Around five years ago I discovered and read quite a few interesting Young Adult books and had an idea for what I thought could be a series. At the time I wrote the first of the novels and after trying to find an agent or a traditional publisher without much success, I started self-publishing, but decided to publish some of my other books first. Since then I’ve published twelve books (six original books and their translations, as I write in English and Spanish).
I kept thinking about “Angelic Business” and, a few months later, I wrote the second novel in the series: “Shades of Greg”. (No, nothing to do with…).
And last year, as part of NaNoWriMo I wrote the third novel in the series, “Pink, Angel or Demon?”.
As I had written the three, I thought I’d publish them pretty close to each other so people wouldn’t have to wait to know what happened next (at least not too much)…. [Olga Núñez Miret].-
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“Angelic Business”, the three books of the series, by author Olga Núñez Miret.
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The trilogy “Angelic Business” is already available for pre-order at the special price of $0.99 each. You’ll find blurbs of each book on the links below. Check them out!:
•”Pink Matters” is currently available at Amazon for pre-order and will be published on June 26th.
•”Shapes of Greg” is available for pre-order at Amazon and will be published on July 15th.
•”Pink, Angel or Demon?” is available for pre-order at Amazon and will be published on July 30th.
►Connect with Author Olga Núñez Miret on her Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and Wattpad.
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Author Olga Núñez Miret.
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►Last but not Least: “Three Awards”:
I would like to thank bloggers from Risty´s Breath, Life as we See It and Splashed for nominating my blog for a Versatile Blogger Award (Red Version), a Creative Blogger Award and a Sunshine Award, respectively.
I suggest you to check out these blogs and follow them, if you haven’t still done so…
•Rules for these Three Awards: ♠ Thank the person who nominated you for the award. ♠ Add the logo to your post. ♠Nominate ten (10) bloggers of your choice and tell them about the nomination.
•Note: If you have been nominated and want to follow the Nomination Process, just click on the award for which you have been awarded to. That way you’ll be able to grab in regular size!.~ 🍒 🍒 🍒
1. Lucinda E Clarke 2. Missing the Muse 3. Caterina Rotondi 4. The Book Haven 5. Hyperion Sturm 6. Simonjohnsonofclowne 7. Life as we See It 8. Books and Hot Tea 9. Makeup and Breakup 10. Life and Light.
II. Nominees for the Sunshine Award:
1. I.J.Keddie 2. Unbuttoned or Undone 3. View from a Burrow 4. Loujen Haxm ´Yor 5. Writing Between the Lines 6. Janna T Writes 7. Breathing Space 8. A Chaos Fairy Realm 9. The Four Rooms 10. Rambles, Writing and Amusing Musings.
III. Nominees for the Creative Blogger Award:
1. Beguiling Hollywood 2. First Night Design 3. Peak Perspective 4. Risty´s Breath 5. Splashed 6. Micheline Walker 7. A Little Bird Tweets 8. Millie Thom 9. Yadadarcyyada 10. The Woman Who.
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Aquileana
⚡️La Audacia de Aquiles⚡️ 