Python

"Rot." The monstrous serpent that hatched from the mud of Deucalion's deluge, a son of Gaea. It was appointed by Themis to guard her oracle at Delphi. When it moved to prevent Apollo from approaching the oracular opening, the god slew it with a thousand arrows and took command of the oracle. Apollo founded the Pythian games, celebrated by contest, which he named for the serpent he had conquered. He himself received to surname Pythius.

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References

Sources

  • Aken, Dr. A.R.A. van. (1961). Elseviers Mythologische Encyclopedie. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
  • Bartelink, Dr. G.J.M. (1988). Prisma van de mythologie. Utrecht: Het Spectrum.
  • Ovid. Metamorphoses i, 430 ff.
  • Pseudo-Apollodorus. The Library i, 1.
  • Strabo. Geography ix, p. 422.