Firstly: The >>> code you see in python examples is a way to indicate that it is Python code. It's used to separate Python code from output. Like this:
>>> 4+5
9
Here we see that the line that starts with >>> is the Python code, and 9 is what it results in. This is exactly how it looks if you start a Python interpreter, which is why it's done like that.
You never enter the >>> part into a .py file.
That takes care of your syntax error.
Secondly, ctypes is just one of several ways of wrapping Python libraries. Other ways are SWIG, which will look at your Python library and generate a Python C extension module that exposes the C API. Another way is to use Cython.
They all have benefits and drawbacks.
SWIG will only expose your C API to Python. That means you don't get any objects or anything, you'll have to make a separate Python file doing that. It is however common to have a module called say "wowza" and a SWIG module called "_wowza" that is the wrapper around the C API. This is a nice and easy way of doing things.
Cython generates a C-Extension file. It has the benefit that all of the Python code you write is made into C, so the objects you write are also in C, which can be a performance improvement. But you'll have to learn how it interfaces with C so it's a little bit extra work to learn how to use it.
ctypes have the benefit that there is no C-code to compile, so it's very nice to use for wrapping standard libraries written by someone else, and already exists in binary versions for Windows and OS X.