![]() She finally reached Delos and gave birth to Artemis, who thereupon helped her deliver Apollon. Leto had relations with Zeus, for which she was hounded by Hera all over the earth. It is commonly accepted that she was born first and assisted with the birth of her brother Apollo. ![]() Why would the Greeks associate a virgin goddess with childbirth? Is the association limited to the Orphic tradition? The Hymns of Orpheus, translated by Thomas Taylor Hear, blessed Dian, and accept my pray'r,Īnd make the infant race thy constant care. Who bring'st relief in labour's dreadful hour Which art attempts to ease, but tries in vain The sex invoke thee, as the soul's sure rest įor thou alone can'st give relief to pain, When rack'd with nature's pangs and sore distress'd, With births you sympathize, tho' pleas'd to see Thine is the talk to loose the virgin's zone,Īnd thou in ev'ry work art seen and known. Thou dwell'st with all immanifest to sight, ![]() Guard of the race, endued with gentle mind, ![]() In thee, when stretch'd upon the bed of grief, Orphic Hymn I to Prothyrea ("Προθυραία"), identifies Artemis as the goddess of childbirth, and relegates Eileithyia to the role of "assisting goddess": ![]()
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