Artemis of Zeus and Leto and that she was the twin sister of Apollo. An account by Callimachus has it that Hera forbade Leto to give birth on either terra firma (the mainland) or on an island. Hera was angry with her husband Zeus because he had impregnated Leto but the island of Delos disobeyed Hera and Leto gave birth there. According to the Homeric Hymn to Artemis the island where Leto gave birth was Ortygia. In ancient Cretan history Leto was worshipped at Phaistos and, in Cretan mythology, Leto gave birth to Apollo and Artemis on the islands known today
Artemis worshipped as a fertility/childbirth goddess in some places, assimilating Ilithyia, since, according to some myths, she assisted her mother in the delivery of her twin. During the Classical period in Athens, she was identified with Hecate. Artemis also assimilated Caryatis (Carya). As Aeginaea, she was worshipped in Sparta; the name means either huntress of chamois, or the wielder of the javelin (). Also in Sparta, Artemis "Lygodesma" was worshipped. This epithet means "willow-bound" from the Gr. "lygos" (λυγός, willow) and "desmos" (δεσμός, bond). The willow tree appears in several ancient Greek myths and rituals. She was worshipped at Naupactus as