The island of Delos, Carl Anton Joseph Rottmann,1847.
Delos is a floating island in Greece. As the birthplace of Artemis and Apollo, the Greek island of Delos (Greek: Δηλος; Dhílos, "Brilliant") was a major sacred site for the ancient Greeks, second in importance only to Delphi.
According to Greek mythology, Delos was the birthplace of Artemis and Apollo, the twin offspring of Zeus by Leto. When Leto was discovered to be pregnant, Zeus ' jealous wife Hera banished her from the earth, but Poseidon took pity on her and provided Delos as a place for her to give birth in peace.
The island's other name is Ortygia.
Leto Giving Birth[]
Leto was an early and favorite lover of Zeus. Zeus married Hera while Leto was pregnant. While the pregnancy started before the marriage, Hera was still jealous of Leto. For the duration of Leto 's pregnancy, Hera created problems. She pushed Leto out of Olympus. As Leto wandered on the earth, no person would let her stay in their home for fear Hera would be offended. On top of that, Hera had the dragon Python chase her. Zeus saved her by sending the North Wind, Boreas, to carry her out to sea. Finally, the desolate, rocky island of Delos, which had nothing to lose, accepted her. The other goddesses gathered there to help Leto during the labor. Hera stayed away and managed to detain Eileithyia, goddess of childbirth, but Iris eventually succeeded in bringing her to the island. Leto first gave birth to Artemis, and after another nine days of labor, to Apollo. Still fleeing Hera 's wrath, she went to Lycia. The peasants tried to prevent her from drinking from their well, so she turned them into frogs.