Jawnomicon

Pytho

Also called Python, Delphyne.

Pytho is the earth-born serpent that guarded Delphi before Apollo killed it and claimed the sanctuary, giving its name to the oracle's Pythia and to Apollo's own cult title Pythios.

At a glance

Tradition
Greek mythology
Region
Greece (place of origin)
Trait family
The Ward-Holders
Symbols
Dragon

Near this figure

and 12 more

Symbols

Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.

Traits

Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.

Form

  • Serpentine elongated body
    why

    Sources differ on the creature's gender and on its role before Apollo's arrival: some accounts give a male serpent, Python, that simply guarded the place and its earlier oracle, while others give a female drakaina, sometimes named Delphyne, sent by a jealous Hera to hunt down Apollo's mother Leto during her pregnancy. The central episode is stable across the tradition even where the creature's background varies: soon after his own birth, Apollo travels to Delphi and kills the serpent with his arrows, in most versions after a pursuit or a direct confrontation at the site.

Behaviour

  • Antagonist in a hero epic quest to slay it
    why

    The central episode is stable across the tradition even where the creature's background varies: soon after his own birth, Apollo travels to Delphi and kills the serpent with his arrows, in most versions after a pursuit or a direct confrontation at the site.

Defensive powers

  • Guardianship
    why

    Greek myth gives Pytho as the serpent or dragon that guarded the sanctuary at Delphi before Apollo claimed the site for his own oracle, born of the earth goddess Gaia and dwelling in the chasm or spring at the foot of Mount Parnassus.

Roles

Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.