Old Greek character given support raised snakes (7)

I believe the answer is:

ophidia

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'snakes' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'old greek character given support raised' is the wordplay.
'old' becomes 'o' (abbreviation).
'greek character' becomes 'phi' (letter from the Greek alphabet).
'given support' becomes 'aid' (to aid is to help or support. I am not sure about the 'given' bit.).
'raised' says the letters should be written backwards (going up in a down clue).
'aid' backwards is 'dia'.
'o'+'phi'+'dia'='OPHIDIA'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for ophidia that I've seen is " [SNAKES]".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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