Python
A huge snake
or dragon that was created out of the mud left after the great flood. Python
lived in a cave on Mount Parnassus near Delphi. When Apollo killed it the
oracle that was already there dedicated to him, and his priestess, the one
that foretold the future, was called Pythea.
After Apollo had killed the monster he had to purify himself from the deed,
and wandered off to Thessaly. To honor the memory of this event, the Greeks
celebrated the Pythean games every eight years. Soon, these games were held
every four years.