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Python was the serpent, sometimes represented as a medieval-style dragon, living at the centre of the earth, believed by the ancient Greeks to be at Delphi, and presided at the oracle of the area. At that time, the oracle honoured the Titan goddess Gaea.
According to a source, when Zeus slept with the goddess Leto, impregnating her with the twin gods Artemis and Apollo. However, Hera was so angry at her husband's infidelity that she told Python to hunt Leto, so that she doesn't give birth anywhere that the sun shone. Leto was eventually accepted at the newly formed island of Delos, where she bore her twins. When Apollo grew up, he wanted to take revenge and thus pursued the dragon. Python, chased by Apollo, left Mount Parnassus where he lived and went to the Oracle of Gaea at Delphi. There, Apollo killed the dragon; however, Zeus told him he needed to redeem himself as he had committed such a sacrilegious act. So, Apollo became the founder of the Pythian Games, in order to purify himself.

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