Typhon those surrounding Python. Although the Delphic monster killed by Apollo is usually said to be the male serpent Python, in the "Homeric Hymn to Apollo", the earliest account of this story, the god kills a nameless she-serpent ("drakaina"), subsequently called Delphyne, who had been Typhon's foster-mother. Delphyne and Echidna, besides both being intimately connected to Typhon—one as mother, the other as mate—share other similarities. Both were half-maid and half-snake, a plague to men, and associated with the Corycian cave in Cilicia. Python was also perhaps connected with a different Corycian Cave than the one in Cilicia, this one on the
Serpent (symbolism) Serpent (symbolism) The serpent, or snake, is one of the oldest and most widespread mythological symbols. The word is derived from Latin "serpens", a crawling animal or snake. Snakes have been associated with some of the oldest rituals known to humankind and represent dual expression of good and evil. In some cultures, snakes were fertility symbols. For example, the Hopi people of North America performed an annual snake dance to celebrate the union of Snake Youth (a Sky spirit) and Snake Girl (an Underworld spirit) and to renew the fertility of Nature. During the dance, live snakes were handled and