ere was an old serpent-worship ousted by that of Apollo, which may
account for expiation for the slaying of Python being considered
necessary. In the solar explanation, the serpent is the darkness driven
away by the rays of the sun. (On the Delphian cult of Apollo and its
political significance, see AMPHICTYONY, DELPHI, ORACLE; and Farnell,
_Cults_, iv. pp. 179-218.) Oracular responses were also given at Claros
near Colophon in Ionia by means of the water of a spring which inspired
those who drank of it; at Patara in Lycia; and at Didyma near Miletus
through the priestly family of the Branchidae. Apollo's oracles, which
he did not deliver on his own initiative but as the mouthpiece of Zeus,
were infallible, but the human mind was not always able to grasp their
meaning; hence he is called _Loxias_ ("crooked," "ambiguous"). To
certain favoured mortals he communicated the gift of prophecy
(Cassandra, the Cumaean sibyl, Helenus, Melampus and Epimenides).
Although his favourite method was by word of mouth, yet signs were
sometimes used; thus Calchas interpreted the flight of birds; burning
offerings, sacrificial barley, the arrow of the god, dreams and the lot,
all played their part in communicating the will of the gods.

Closely connected with the god of oracles was the god of the healing
art, the oracle being frequently consulted in cases of sickness. These
two functions are indicated by the titles _Iatromantis_ ("physician and
seer") and _Oulios_, probably meaning "health-giving" (so Suidas) rather
than "destructive." This side of Apollo's character does not appear in
Homer, where Paieon is mentioned as the physician of the gods. Here
again, as in the case of Aristaeus and Carneius, the question arises
whether Paean (or Paeon) was originally an epithet of Apollo,
subsequently developed into an independent personality, or an
independent deity merged in the later arrival (Farnell, _Cults_, iv. p.
234). According to Wilamowitz-Mollendorff in his edition of Isyllus, the
epithet Maleatas alluded to above is also connected with the functions
of the healing god, imported into Athens in the 4th century B.C. with
other well-known health divinities. In this connexion, it is said to
mean the "gentle one," who gave his name to the rock Malion or Maleas
(O. Gruppe, _Griechische Mythologie_, ii. 1442) on the Gortynian coast.
Apollo is further supposed to be the father of Asclepius (Aesculapius),
whose ritual is closely modelled upon his