[Silver stater of Croton (about 400 B.C.). Obv. Hercules, the Founder.
Rev. Apollo shooting the Python by the Delphic Tripod: lang103.jpg]
Mindful, ever mindful, will I be of Apollo the Far-darter. Before him,
as he fares through the hall of Zeus, the Gods tremble, yea, rise up all
from their thrones as he draws near with his shining bended bow. But
Leto alone abides by Zeus, the Lord of Lightning, till Apollo hath
slackened his bow and closed his quiver. Then, taking with her hands
from his mighty shoulders the bow and quiver, she hangs them against the
pillar beside his father's seat from a pin of gold, and leads him to his
place and seats him there, while the father welcomes his dear son, giving
him nectar in a golden cup; then do the other Gods welcome him; then they
make him sit, and Lady Leto rejoices, in that she bore the Lord of the
Bow, her mighty son.
[Hail! O blessed Leto; mother of glorious children, Prince Apollo and
Artemis the Archer; her in Ortygia, him in rocky Delos didst thou bear,
couching against the long sweep of the Cynthian Hill, beside a palm tree,
by the streams of Inopus.]
[Leto. With her infants, Apollo and Artemis. From a Vase in the British
Museum. (Sixth Century B.C.): lang104.jpg]
How shall I hymn thee aright, howbeit thou art, in sooth, not hard to
hymn? {104} for to thee, Phoebus, everywhere have fallen all the ranges
of song, both on the mainland, nurse of young kine, and among the isles;
to thee all the cliffs are dear, and the steep mountain crests and rivers
running onward to the salt sea, and beaches sloping to the foam, and
havens of the deep? Shall I tell how Leto bore thee first, a delight of
men, couched by the Cynthian Hill in the rocky island, in sea-girt
Delos--on either hand the black wave drives landward at the word of the
shrill winds--whence arising thou art Lord over all mortals?
Among them that dwell in Crete, and the people of Athens, and isle AEgina,
and Euboea famed for fleets, and AEgae and Peiresiae, and Peparethus by
the sea-strand, and Thracian Athos, and the tall crests of Pelion, and
Thracian Samos, and the shadowy mountains of Ida, Scyros, and Phocaea,
and the mountain wall of Aigocane, and stablished Imbros, and
inhospitable Lemnos, and goodly Lesbos, the seat of Makar son of AEolus,
and Chios, brightest of all islands of the deep, and craggy Mimas, and
the steep crests of Mykale, and gleaming Claros, and the high hills of
AEsagee, and watery Samos, and tall ridges of Mycale, and Miletus, and
Cos, a city of Meropian men, and steep Cnidos, and windy Carpathus, Naxos
and Paros, and rocky Rheneia--so far in travail with the Archer God went
Leto, seeking if perchance any land would build a house for her son.
But the lands trembled sore, and were adread, and none, nay not the
richest, dared to welcome Phoebus, not till Lady Leto set foot on Delos,
and speaking winged words besought her:
"Delos, would that thou wert minded to be the seat of my Son, Phoebus
Apollo, and to let build him therein a rich temple! No other God will
touch thee, nor none will honour thee, for methinks thou art not to be
well seen in cattle or in sheep, in fruit or grain, nor wilt thou grow
plants unnumbered. But wert thou to possess a temple of Apollo the Far-
darter; then would all men bring thee hecatombs, gathering to thee, and
ever wilt thou have savour of sacrifice . . . from others' hands, albeit
thy soil is poor."
Thus spoke she, and Delos was glad and answered her saying:
"Leto, daughter most renowned of mighty Coeus, right gladly would I
welcome the birth of the Archer Prince, for verily of me there goes an
evil report among men, and thus would I wax mightiest of renown. But at
this Word, Leto, I tremble, nor will I hide it from thee, for the saying
is that Apollo will be mighty of mood, and mightily will lord it over
mortals and immortals far and wide over the earth, the grain-giver.
Therefore, I deeply dread in heart and soul lest, when first he looks
upon the sunlight, he disdain my island, for rocky of soil am I, and
spurn me with his feet and drive me down in the gulfs of the salt sea.
Then should a great sea-wave wash mightily above my head for ever, but he
will fare to another land, which so pleases him, to fashion him a temple
and groves of trees. But in me would many-footed sea-beasts and black
seals make their chambers securely, no men dwelling by me. Nay, still,
if thou hast the heart, Goddess, to swear a great oath that here first he
will build a beautiful temple, to be the shrine oracular of
men--thereafter among all men let him raise him shrines, since his renown
shall be the widest."
So spake she, but Leto swore the great oath of the Gods:
"Bear witness, Earth, and the wide heaven above, and dropping water of
Styx--the greatest oath and the most dread among the blessed Gods--that
verily here shall ever be the fragrant altar and the portion of Apollo,
and thee will he honour above all."
When she had sworn and done that oath, then Delos was glad in the birth
of the Archer Prince. But Leto, for nine days and nine nights
continually was pierced with pangs of child-birth beyond all hope. With
her were all the Goddesses, the goodliest, Dione and Rheia, and Ichnaean
Themis, and Amphitrite of the moaning sea, and the other deathless
ones--save white-armed Hera. Alone she wotted not of it, Eilithyia, the
helper in difficult travail. For she sat on the crest of Olympus beneath
the golden clouds, by the wile of white-armed Hera, who held her afar in
jealous grudge, because even then fair-tressed Leto was about bearing her
strong and noble son.
But the Goddesses sent forth Iris from the fair-stablished isle, to bring
Eilithyia, promising her a great necklet, golden with amber studs, nine
cubits long. Iris they bade to call Eilithyia apart from white-armed
Hera, lest even then the words of Hera might turn her from her going. But
wind-footed swift Iris heard, and fleeted forth, and swiftly she devoured
the space between. So soon as she came to steep Olympus, the dwelling of
the Gods, she called forth Eilithyia from hall to door, and spake winged
words, even all that the Goddesses of Olympian mansions had bidden her.
Thereby she won the heart in Eilithyia's breast, and forth they fared,
like timid wild doves in their going.
Even when Eilithyia, the helper in sore travailing, set foot in Delos,
then labour took hold on Leto, and a passion to bring to the birth.
Around a palm tree she cast her arms, and set her knees on the soft
meadow, while earth beneath smiled, and forth leaped the babe to light,
and all the Goddesses raised a cry. Then, great Phoebus, the Goddesses
washed thee in fair water, holy and purely, and wound thee in white
swaddling bands, delicate, new woven, with a golden girdle round thee.
Nor did his mother suckle Apollo the golden-sworded, but Themis with
immortal hands first touched his lips with nectar and sweet ambrosia,
while Leto rejoiced, in that she had borne her strong son, the bearer of
the bow.
Then Phoebus, as soon as thou hadst tasted the food of Paradise, the
golden bands were not proof against thy pantings, nor bonds could bind
thee, but all their ends were loosened. Straightway among the Goddesses
spoke Phoebus Apollo: "Mine be the dear lyre and bended bow, and I will
utter to men the unerring counsel of Zeus."
So speaking, he began to fare over the wide ways of earth, Phoebus of the
locks unshorn, Phoebus the Far-darter. Thereon all the Goddesses were in
amaze, and all Delos blossomed with gold, as when a hilltop is heavy with
woodland flowers, beholding the child of Zeus and Leto, and glad because
the God had chosen her wherein to set his home, beyond mainland and
isles, and loved her most at heart.
But thyself, O Prince of the Silver Bow, far-darting Apollo, didst now
pass over rocky Cynthus, now wander among temples and men. Many are thy
fanes and groves, and dear are all the headlands, and high peaks of lofty
hills, and rivers flowing onward to the sea; but with Delos, Phoebus, art
thou most delighted at heart, where the long-robed Ionians gather in
thine honour, with children and shame-fast wives. Mindful of thee they
delight thee with boxing, and dances, and minstrelsy in their games. Who
so then encountered them at the gathering of the Ionians, would say that
they are exempt from eld and death, beholding them so gracious, and would
be glad at heart, looking on the men and fair-girdled women, and their
much wealth, and their swift galleys. Moreover, there is this great
marvel of renown imperishable, the Delian damsels, hand-maidens of the
Far-darter. They, when first they have hymned Apollo, and next Leto and
Artemis the Archer, then sing in memory of the men and women of old time,
enchanting the tribes of mortals. And they are skilled to mimic the
notes and dance music of all men, so that each would say himself were
singing, so well woven is their fair chant.
But now come, be gracious, Apollo, be gracious, Artemis; and ye maidens
all, farewell, but remember me even in time to come, when any of earthly
men, yea, any stranger that much hath seen and much endured, comes hither
and asks:
"Maidens, who is the sweetest to you of singers here conversant, and in
whose song are ye most glad?"
Then do you all with one voice make answer:
"A blind man is he, and he dwells in rocky Chios; his songs will ever
have the mastery, ay, in all time to come."
But I shall bear my renown of you as far as I wander over earth to the
fairest cities of men, and they will believe my report, for my word is
true. But, for me, never shall I cease singing of Apollo of the Silver
Bow, the Far-darter, whom fair-tressed Leto bore.
O Prince, Lycia is thine, and pleasant Maeonia, and Miletus, a winsome
city by the sea, and thou, too, art the mighty lord of sea-washed Delos.