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
Serpent (symbolism) Heracles for one of his Twelve Labors. The constellation Serpens represents a snake being tamed by Ophiuchus the snake-handler, another constellation. The most probable interpretation is that Ophiuchus represents the healer Asclepius. Occasionally, serpents and dragons are used interchangeably, having similar symbolic functions. The venom of the serpent is thought to have a fiery quality similar to a fire spitting dragon. The Greek Ladon and the Norse Níðhöggr (Nidhogg Nagar) are sometimes described as serpents and sometimes as dragons. In Germanic mythology, "serpent" (Old English: "wyrm", Old High German: "wurm", Old Norse: "ormr") is used interchangeably with the Greek borrowing