Ouroboros

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Ouroboros

Q: What is Ouroboros?

Ouroboros is an emblematic serpent of ancient Egypt and Greece represented with its tail in its mouth, continually devouring itself and being reborn from itself.

Q: What does Ouroboros symbolize?

Ouroboros is a gnostic and alchemical symbol that expresses the unity of all things, material and spiritual, which never disappear but perpetually change form in an eternal cycle of destruction and re-creation.

Q: Where did Ouroboros originate?

While the word Ouroboros has its origins in the Greek language , representations of the symbol itself have been documented as far back as the 13th and 14th centuries BCE in ancient Egypt .

Q: Is Ouroborous an evil symbol?

The Ouroboros serpent is meant to be a positive symbol that represents unity and the natural eternal cycle of destruction and re-creation. It is unlike many other cultural representations of snakes, such as in Christian tradition, which have distinctly evil associations.

ancient symbol

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Related Topics:: ancient Greek civilization; ancient Egypt; religious symbolism and iconography; symbolism

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What is Ouroboros?

What does Ouroboros symbolize?

Where did Ouroboros originate?

Is Ouroborous an evil symbol?

Ouroboros, emblematic serpent of ancient Egypt and Greece represented with its tail in its mouth, continually devouring itself and being reborn from itself. A gnostic and alchemical symbol, Ouroboros expresses the unity of all things, material and spiritual, which never disappear but perpetually change form in an eternal cycle of destruction and re-creation.

In the 19th century a vision of Ouroboros gave the German chemist August Kekule von Stradonitz the idea of linked carbon atoms forming the benzene ring.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.