Python, in Greek mythology, a huge serpent. In some myths the infant Apollo slew Python at the oracle of Gaea in Delphi; in others Apollo killed the serpent in order to claim the oracle for hi...

Leto, in Greek mythology, daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe and mother of Artemis and Apollo. When she conceived twins by Zeus, Hera sent the serpent Python after her and forbade all to ...

Boa, name for live-bearing constrictor snakes of the family Boidae, found mostly in the Americas. This family, which also comprises the egg-laying pythons of the Old World, includes the larges...

Pythagoras of Rhegium, fl. 5th cent. B.C., Greek sculptor. In a signature on a pedestal at Olympia he declares himself a Samian, but the period of his training and work belongs to Rhegium, Ita...

Apollo, in Greek religion and mythology, one of the most important Olympian gods, concerned especially with prophecy, medicine, music and poetry, archery, and various bucolic arts, particularl...

Delphi, locality in Phocis, Greece, near the foot of the south slope of Mt. Parnassós, c.6 mi (10 km) northeast of the port of Cirrha. It was the seat of the Delphic oracle, the most famous an...

Sundarbans, large, heavily forested swamp region, c.3,860 sq mi (10,000 sq km), in the S Ganges delta on the Bay of Bengal, about 60% in SW Bangladesh and the rest in West Bengal state, India....

Snake worship. The snake has been variously adored as a regenerative power, as a god of evil, as a god of good, as Christ (by the Gnostics), as a phallic deity, as a solar deity, and as a god ...

Snake, common name for an elongated, limbless reptile of the order Squamata, which also includes the lizards. Most snakes live on the ground, but some are burrowers, arboreal, or aquatic; one ...