Apollo taught to the humans the art of healing and archery. Phoebe, his grandmother, gave the oracular shrine of Delphi to Apollo as a birthday gift. Themis inspired him to be the oracular voice of Delphi thereon. Later, with his bow and arrows that he had received from Hephaestus, Apollo went in search of the chthonic dragon Python, which lived in Delphi beside the Castalian Spring, and was a terror to the people. Hera had sent this serpent to hunt the pregnant Leto to her death across the world. To avenge the trouble given to his mother, Apollo killed Python in
The Great Snake Serpent". "Poloz" () is the word for the snakes from the Colubridae family. The character of Poloz the Great Snake is based the Ural legends, miner's omens, and on the superstitions of the Khanty, the Mansi people, and the Bashkirs. The legends about Poloz, a giant serpent 6–10 meters long, still exist at the Urals. In the Bashkir folklore there is the character the Master of Gold, which can appear as various animals, including the snake. At the Urals he is also called The Serpent or The Snake King (Змеиный царь, "Zmeinyj tsar"). It is believed that the grass turns