Any species of very large snakes of the genus Python, and allied genera, of the family Pythonidæ. They are nearly allied to the boas. Called also rock snake.

Apollo established the major sanctuary for his worship and his oracle at Delphi, but to do so he had to kill the serpent which guarded the site. He named his new sanctuary Pytho, from the rotting of the serpent after it had been killed (the Greek verb pythein means to rot); or the serpent's name was Python. A python today belongs to a particular family of non-venomous old world snakes.

large Old World boas

(Greek mythology) dragon killed by Apollo at Delphi

a constrictor, doesn't have fangs, and is non-venomous

a DANGEROUS BEAST, it SQUEEZES things to KILL them

a large snake

a snake and type of reptile and you can view photos of them in books or on the Internet

a snake that constricts mightily until is victim is crushed

A winged serpent or snake

A giant snakelike monster who inhabited Delphi and was killed by the god Apollo.

Python is the common name for a group of non-venomous constricting snakes, specifically the family Pythonidae. Other sources consider this group a subfamily of the Boas (Pythoninae). Pythons are more related to boas than to any other snake-family.

In Greek mythology Python was the earth-dragon of Delphi, always represented in the vase-paintings and by sculptors as a serpent. Pytho was the chthonic enemy of Apollo, who slew her and remade her former home his own oracle, the most famous in Classical Greece. (But see also Dodona.)