In ancient Greek mythology, Python was the dragon-serpent that guarded the oracle at Delphi before Apollo killed it.
Python was a monstrous serpent connected with Delphi, the sacred site where Apollo’s oracle later operated. In the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, Apollo arrives at Delphi and kills the creature with his arrows. The god then establishes his sanctuary and oracle there, creating a divine explanation for Apollo’s control of the site.
The story also explains the epithet Pythian, used for Apollo, his games, and the Delphic oracle. The name is associated with the serpent and with the verb used in traditions describing its decay after death. Apollo’s victory was commemorated through the Pythian Games, one of the major panhellenic festivals of ancient Greece.
Python is often called a dragon in English, but Greek myth generally presents it as a gigantic serpent rather than a winged European-style dragon. It is also distinct from Ladon, who guards the Hesperides’ apples, and from the many-headed Hydra, which Heracles fights at Lerna.