Latona

Latona was the Roman name of the Greek goddess Leto.

One of the Titans - the first generation of Greek gods, she was the daughter of the Titan Coeus and Phoebe and mother to the twin gods, Apollo and Artemis, whose father was Zeus.

Knowing that Leto's children would be greater than her own, the jealous Hera constrained Leto to travel far and wide in search of a sheltered place where she might bear her divine twins. Finally the barren island of Ortygia received her and, because the god of light first saw daylight there, changed its name to Delos, the Brilliant.

A different legend claimed the birth to have taken place on the island of Poseidon, where Zeus created a screen against the sun's rays by forming a wave-shaped arch out of seawater.

Leto's labour pains lasted nine days and nine nights on account of the fact that Hera delayed the arrival of Eileithyia (the goddess of childbirth) for some time Apollo and Artemis later took vengeance on Hera and other persecutors of their mother.