Leto, Giulio Pomponio: see Pomponius Laetus, Julius.

Leto, in Greek mythology, daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe and mother of Artemis and Apollo. When she conceived twins by Zeus, Hera sent the serpent Python after her and forbade all to give her rest or help. Finally Leto stopped on the island Delos and gave birth to Artemis and Apollo. The twins were devoted to their mother and assiduously protected her, as in the stories of Niobe and Python. In Rome, Leto was called Latona.

or Giulio Pomponio Leto

(born 1428, Diano, Kingdom of Naples—died 1497, Rome) Italian humanist. As a youth he decided to dedicate his life to the study of the ancient world. In Rome he gathered other humanists around him in a semisecret society, the Academia Romana. Their celebration of ancient Roman rites aroused the suspicions of Pope Paul II, who briefly dissolved the Academia and imprisoned Laetus and his associates. Laetus's lack of rigour and critical spirit have led modern scholars to treat his writings with caution.

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In classical mythology, the mother of Apollo and Artemis. She was made pregnant by Zeus, and she wandered in search of a place to give birth until she found the barren island of Delos. The island was a floating rock borne about by the waves, but it was fixed to the bottom of the sea for the birth of Apollo and Artemis. In some versions, Leto's wanderings are ascribed to the jealousy of Zeus's wife, Hera.

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