Serpent (symbolism) Typhon is thus the chthonic figuration of volcanic forces. Serpent elements figure among his offspring; among his children by Echidna are: Cerberus (a monstrous three-headed dog with a snake for a tail and a serpentine mane); the serpent-tailed Chimaera; the serpent-like chthonic water beast Lernaean Hydra; and the hundred-headed serpentine dragon Ladon. Both the Lernaean Hydra and Ladon were slain by Heracles. Python was the earth-dragon of Delphi, she always was 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
Gloucester sea serpent with humps, which they believed was the offspring of the serpent. The Society's analysis was published in a pamphlet which announced it was a new species which they dubbed "Scoliophis Atlanticus". However, the specimen was examined by naturalist Charles Alexandre Lesueur who determined it was only a common snake with tumors on its spine. Charleston playwright William Crafts lampooned the reports of the serpent in his play "The sea serpent; or, Gloucester hoax: A dramatic jeu d'esprit, in three acts", published in 1819. Gloucester sea serpent The Gloucester sea serpent is a creature reportedly seen around and off the coast