LETO
Real Name: Leto
Occupation: Goddess of daylight
Legal Status: Citizen of Olympus
Identity: The general populace of Earth is unaware of Leto except as a figure in mythology.
Other Aliases: Latona (Roman Name)
Place of Birth: Unrevealed, possibly Olympus
Marital Status: Married
Known Relatives: Coeus (father), Phoebe (mother), Asteria (sister), Perses (cousin/brother-in-law), Hecate (niece), Zeus (husband), Apollo (son), Artemis (daughter), Hercules, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermes, Dionysus (step-sons), Athena, Aphrodite, Eileithyia, Discord, Hebe, Helen (step-daughters), Asclepius, Janus (grandsons), Hades, Poseidon (brothers-in-law), Hera, Demeter, Hestia (sisters-in-law), Ouranus (grandfather, deceased), Gaea (grandmother),
Group Affiliation: Gods of Olympus
Base of Operations: Olympus, also Mobile
First (Known) Appearance: (name only) Star Trek, Episode: Who Mourns For Adonis
History: Leto is the daughter of Coeus and Phoebe, members of an extra-dimensional race of beings known as the Titans, who were worshipped as gods by the ancient Greeks. She was romanced by the god Zeus who sought the means of overthrowing the Titans from Olympus and became his wife afterward. Zeus overthrew the Titans from Olympus afterward and imprisoned many of them in Tartarus afterward. Leto was allowed to stay on Olympus afterward, but she was not welcomed by Hera, Zeus's most current wife, the Queen of the Gods. Preferring not to have any step-children or adversaries to be a threat to herself or her own children, Hera drove Leto from Olympus. Fearing much to fear from any son Leto conceived, Hera decreed that no land should welcome her without suffering fatal consequences. Leto was forced to wander without a place to rest. To keep her moving, Hera sent a great serpent called Python to pursue her.
Zeus meanwhile sent Boreas, the god of the north wind, to receive Leto and carry her to Poseidon, god of the sea. Poseidon took her to the island of Ortygia (modern Delos) which having been risen from the sea since Hera's edict was not subject to it. Clinging to a palm tree beneath Mount Cynthus, Leto began giving birth to Apollo and Artemis. All the goddesses of Olympus were in attendance except for Hera and her daughter, Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, who she had forbidden to attend. Iris, the rainbow-goddess, however, secretly spirited Eileithyia off Olympus to attend Leto in a difficult childbirth. After nine days of difficult birth, Leto's children were born and then entrusted to the Titaness Themis who nursed them on nectar and ambrosia to insure their godly attributes.
Leto was still not allowed to rest and Python pursued her as far as Lycia. The inhabitants of the land refused her to drink from a well of fresh water and she turned them into frogs out of frustration. After Apollo as a young god slew Python, he brought Leto back to Greece, but near Delphi, she was approached by the giant Tityus, who tried to rape her. Apollo and Artemis together slew the giant after hearing their mother's screams.
Hera eventually learned to tolerate Leto after her children, Apollo and Artemis, were accepted as gods on Olympus. She protected their honor several times and they dutifully protected her honor as well. In the 14th Century, Queen Niobe of Thebes vainly asked the Thebans to worship her as a goddess and boasted of her ability to have more children than Leto, Apollo and Artemis joined together to slay the vain queen and her children. Only one of Niobe's daughters, Meliboea, survived by praying and begging forgiveness from Leto.
After Apollo slew the Cyclops over the death of his son, Asclepius, his fate was to be imprisoned in Tartarus, but Leto appealed to Zeus for the harsh punishment and instead persuaded him to render Apollo temporarily mortal for one year to learn humility. During the Trojan War, Leto sided as did Apollo and Artemis with the Trojans and healed the wounds of Aeneas incurred from the war.
Following the fall of the Roman Empire and
the end of worship of the Olympian gods, Leto floated between the company of
Apollo and Artemis as they traveled the world beyond Greece. Shorn of godly
responsibilities, Leto was a guest of the Xian (Chinese Gods) for a while, but
she was always interested in her children's pursuits and welfare of their
descendants. In modern years, Apollo assumed the role of a successful pop singer
and Artemis became an ardent animal rites activist. When she is not traveling,
Leto makes her home in an isolated resident near Delos, Minnesota or on a estate in Olympia, Washington, a resident for the
mortal identities assumed by the Olympian Gods. Strength Level: Leto possesses
superhuman strength and can lift (press) about 25 tons. (The typical Olympian
goddess can lift (press) 25 tons.) Known Superhuman Powers:
Leto possesses the conventional physical attributes of the Olympian Gods. Like
all Olympian Gods, she is immortal. She has not aged since reaching adulthood
and cannot die by any known conventional means. She is immune to all known
terrestrial diseases and is invulnerable to conventional injury. If wounded, her
godly life force would enable her to recover with superhuman speed. It would
take an injury of such magnitude that it dispersed a major portion of her bodily
molecules to cause her a physical death. Even then, it might be possible for
Zeus or a number of gods of equal power working together to revive her. Leto
does have some superhuman strength and her own Olympian metabolism gives her far
greater than human endurance in all physical activities. (Olympian flesh and
bone is about three times as dense as similar human tissue, contributing to
their superhuman strength and weight.) Leto
has abilities to tap into and manipulate mystical energies on a level equal to
many of the Olympian gods, but she is not quite as powerful as figures such as
Zeus, Poseidon or
Circe.
She can teleport between dimensions (such as from Earth
to Olympus) and when she does she creates a blinding portal of light. She also
has extraordinary clairvoyant senses and can cause psychokinetic effects. She
can also alter objects on a molecular scale, such as transforming irises to
roses or people to animals. She can convert living things to inanimate objects
such as statues, but to fully restore her victims to a true sense as they once
were, she calls upon the extra energies of other gods such as Circe or Gaea to
prevent over-taxing her own mystical powers. In Star Trek: Who
Mourns for Adonis, Leto is incorrectly described as a former mortal. Clarifications: Leto is not to be
confused with: Last updated: 05/10/11
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 310 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde