Although most of the mythology associated with Delphi is connected with Apollo,
he was not its first inhabitant; this distinction belonged to either Gaia/Ge
(the Earth goddess) or Themis (another primordial goddess). In the Homeric Hymn to
Apollo, Apollo killed a monstrous snake, the Python (that gave the god his title
Pythian) and left it to rot (an etmylogical play on the Greek verb pytho, "I rot");
the early name of Delphi was supposed to be Pytho. Some have seen this as representing
the displacement of the site's earlier divine inhabitant. So too the name Delphi
received an etymological explanation: Apollo appeared in the form of a dolphin
(delphis is the Greek word for "dolphin") to sailors on a Cretan ship. Leaping on
board, he brought the terrified sailors to Crisa, the coastal port near Delphi,
where he transformed himself into a handsome youth and appointed the sailors as
priests of his temple. Some have seen in this myth of Cretan immigration a connection
with Apollo's origins in the Near East, since Crete was the main point of connection
between the Levant and the Greek-speaking world. It too might explain the prominent
role played by the Delphic oracle in marine expeditions, particularly when founding
new colonies. Delphis is also the Greek word for "womb" (that distinguishes the
dolphin as a mammal from other sea-creatures), and this is probably also connected
with the ancient conception of Delphi as being the center of the world. According
to other sources, Apollo had to travel to the valley of Tempe (in Thessaly) to
purify himself from the blood of the slain Python, and this rite
of purification was celebrated at the Pythian festival.
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