Editing Ouroboros

{{Short description|Symbolic serpent with its tail in its mouth}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
[[File:Serpiente alquimica.jpg|thumb|right|An ouroboros in a 1478 drawing in an [[alchemical]] tract<ref>[[Theodoros Pelecanos]]'s manuscript of an alchemical tract attributed to [[Synesius]], in ''Codex Parisinus graecus 2327'' in the Bibliothèque Nationale, France, mentioned ''s.v.'' 'alchemy', ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, 2012, {{ISBN|0199545561}}</ref>]]

The '''ouroboros''' or '''uroboros''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|j|ʊər|ə|ˈ|b|ɒr|ə|s}};<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/uroboros |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219053910/https://www.lexico.com/definition/uroboros |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 December 2019 |title=uroboros |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref> {{IPAc-en|ˌ|ʊər|ə|ˈ|b|ɒr|ə|s}}<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/ouroboros |title=ouroboros |dictionary=[[Dictionary.com]] |publisher=[[Random House]]}}</ref>) is an ancient [[symbol]] depicting a [[serpent symbolism|snake]] or [[European dragon|dragon]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Salvador Dalí: Alchimie des Philosophes {{!}} The Ouroboros |url=https://libmedia.willamette.edu/hfma/omeka/exhibits/show/salvador-dali--alchimie-des-ph/the-ouroboros |website=Academic Commons |publisher=Willamette University}}</ref> [[Autocannibalism|eating its own tail]]. The ouroboros entered Western tradition via [[Egyptian mythology|ancient Egyptian iconography]] and the [[Greek Magical Papyri|Greek magical tradition]]. It was adopted as a symbol in [[Gnosticism]] and [[Hermeticism]] and, most notably, in [[alchemy]]. Some snakes, such as [[rat snake]]s, have been known to consume themselves.<ref>{{cite book |author=Mattison, Chris |title=The New Encyclopedia of Snakes |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, N.J. |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-691-13295-2 |page=105}}</ref>

== Name and interpretation ==
The term derives {{etymology|grc|{{noitalics|οὐροβόρος}}}},<ref>{{harvp|Liddell|Scott|1940|loc= [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dou%29robo%2Fros {{lang|grc|οὐροβόρος}}]}}</ref> from {{lang|grc|οὐρά}} ''oura'' 'tail' plus {{lang|grc|-βορός}} ''-boros'' '-eating'.<ref>{{harvp|Liddell|Scott|1940|loc= [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dou)ra%2F {{lang|grc|οὐρά}}]}}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Liddell|Scott|1940|loc= [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dbora%2F {{lang|grc|βορά}}]}}</ref>

The ''ouroboros'' is often interpreted as a symbol for eternal cyclic renewal or a [[Eternal return|cycle of life, death and rebirth]]; the snake's [[Sloughing|skin-sloughing]] symbolises the [[Metempsychosis|transmigration of souls]]. The snake biting its own tail is a fertility symbol in some religions: the tail is a [[Phallus|phallic symbol]] and the mouth is a [[yonic]] or womb-like symbol.<ref>{{cite book|author=Arien Mack|title= Humans and Other Animals|publisher= Ohio State University Press|year= 1999|page= 359}}</ref>

== Historical representations ==
[[File:Ägyptisches Museum Kairo 2016-03-29 Tutanchamun Grabschatz 09.jpg|thumb|First known representation of the ouroboros, on one of the shrines enclosing the sarcophagus of [[Tutankhamun]]]]

=== Ancient Egypt ===
One of the earliest known ouroboros [[motif (narrative)|motifs]] is found in the ''[[Enigmatic Book of the Netherworld]]'', an [[ancient Egyptian funerary text]] in [[KV62]], the tomb of [[Tutankhamun]], in the 14th century BCE. The text concerns the actions of [[Ra]] and his union with [[Osiris]] in the [[Duat|underworld]]. The ouroboros is depicted twice on the figure: holding their tails in their mouths, one encircling the head and upper chest, the other surrounding the feet of a large figure, which may represent the unified Ra-Osiris ([[Osiris]] born again as [[Ra]]). Both serpents are manifestations of the deity [[Mehen]], who in other funerary texts protects Ra in his underworld journey. The whole divine figure represents the beginning and the end of time.<ref>Hornung, Erik. ''The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife''. [[Cornell University Press]], 1999. pp. 38, 77–78</ref>

The ouroboros appears elsewhere in Egyptian sources, where, like many Egyptian serpent deities, it represents the formless disorder that surrounds the orderly world and is involved in that world's periodic renewal.<ref>{{cite book|author=Hornung, Erik|title=Conceptions of God in Egypt: The One and the Many | publisher= Cornell University Press|year= 1982| pages=163–64}}</ref> The symbol persisted from Egyptian into [[Roman Egypt|Roman times]], when it frequently appeared on magical [[talisman]]s, sometimes in combination with other magical emblems.{{Sfn | Hornung | 2002 | p = 58}} The 4th-century CE Latin commentator [[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]] was aware of the Egyptian use of the symbol, noting that the image of a snake biting its tail represents the cyclical nature of the year.<ref>[[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], note to ''[[Aeneid]]'' 5.85: "according to the Egyptians, before the invention of the alphabet the year was symbolized by a picture, a serpent biting its own tail because it recurs on itself" ''(annus secundum Aegyptios indicabatur ante inventas litteras picto dracone caudam suam mordente, quia in se recurrit)'', as cited by Danuta Shanzer, ''A Philosophical and Literary Commentary on Martianus Capella's ''De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' Book 1'' (University of California Press, 1986), p. 159.</ref>

=== Gnosticism and alchemy ===
[[File:Chrysopoea of Cleopatra 1.png|upright|thumb|Early alchemical ouroboros illustration with the words ἓν τὸ πᾶν ("The All is [[Henology|One]]") from the work of [[Cleopatra the Alchemist]] in MS [[Biblioteca Marciana|Marciana]] gr. Z. 299. (10th century)]]
In [[Gnosticism]], a serpent biting its tail symbolised eternity and the soul of the world.<ref>Origen, ''[[Contra Celsum]]'' 6.25.</ref> The Gnostic ''[[Pistis Sophia]]'' (c. 400 CE) describes the ouroboros as a twelve-part dragon surrounding the world with its tail in its mouth.{{Sfn | Hornung | 2002 | p = 76}}

The famous ouroboros drawing from the early [[Alchemy|alchemical]] text, ''The [[Chrysopoeia]] of Cleopatra'' ({{lang|grc|Κλεοπάτρας χρυσοποιία}}), probably originally dating to the 3rd century [[Alexandria]], but first known in a 10th-century copy, encloses the words ''hen to pan'' ({{lang|grc|ἓν τὸ πᾶν}}), "the all is [[Henology|one]]". Its black and white halves may perhaps represent a [[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] [[dualistic cosmology|duality]] of existence, analogous to the [[Taoism|Taoist]] [[yin and yang]] symbol.<ref>{{cite book|author=Eliade, Mircea| title=Occultism, Witchcraft, and Cultural Fashions|location= Chicago and London| publisher= U of Chicago Press|year= 1976|pages=55, 93–113}}</ref> The [[chrysopoeia]] ouroboros of [[Cleopatra the Alchemist]] is one of the oldest images of the ouroboros to be linked with the legendary [[Magnum opus (alchemy)|''opus'']] of the alchemists, the [[philosopher's stone]].{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

A 15th-century alchemical manuscript, ''The Aurora Consurgens'', features the ouroboros, where it is used among symbols of the sun, moon, and mercury.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bekhrad |first=Joobin |title=The ancient symbol that spanned millennia |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20171204-the-ancient-symbol-that-spanned-millennia |access-date=24 July 2021 |publisher=BBC |language=en}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200" widths="100">
File:KellsFol124rTuncCrucifixerant.jpg|A highly stylised ouroboros from ''[[The Book of Kells]]'', an illuminated Gospel Book (c.&nbsp;800 CE)
File:Ouroboros 1.jpg|Engraving of a [[wyvern]]-type ouroboros by [[Lucas Jennis]], in the 1625 [[alchemical]] tract ''De Lapide Philosophico''. The figure serves as a symbol for [[Mercury (element)#History|mercury]].<ref>[[:de:Lambspring|Lambsprinck]]: ''De Lapide Philosophico''. E Germanico versu Latine redditus, per Nicolaum Barnaudum Delphinatem .... Sumptibus LUCAE JENNISSI, Frankfurt 1625, [https://books.google.com/books?id=_NHNKtBwYmgC&pg=PA17 p.&nbsp;17].</ref>
File:Tractat von dem Kauen und Schmatzen der Todten in Gräbern 001.jpg|An engraving of a woman holding an ouroboros in [[Michael Ranft]]'s 1734 treatise on vampires
File:Transylvanian Thaler of Gabriel Bethlen 1621.jpg|Transylvanian [[Thaler]] of [[Gabriel Bethlen]] showing his portrait and coat of arms including an ouroboros in the center of the shield (1621)
File:Theosophicalsealfrench.svg|Seal of the [[Theosophical Society]], founded 1875
File:Labaro Reggenza Italiana del Carnaro.svg|Flag of the short-lived [[Italian Regency of Carnaro]] at [[Fiume]], bearing the snake Ouroborus
</gallery>

=== World serpent in mythology ===
In [[Norse mythology]], the ouroboros appears as the serpent [[Jörmungandr]], one of the three children of [[Loki]] and [[Angrboda]], which grew so large that it could encircle the world and grasp its tail in its teeth. In the legends of [[Ragnar Lodbrok]], such as ''[[Ragnarssona þáttr]]'', the Geatish king [[Herraud]] gives a small [[lindworm]] as a gift to his daughter [[Þóra Town-Hart]] after which it grows into a large serpent which encircles the girl's [[Bedroom|bower]] and bites itself in the tail. The serpent is slain by Ragnar Lodbrok who marries Þóra. Ragnar later has a son with another woman named [[Kráka]] and this son is born with the image of a white snake in one eye. This snake encircled the iris and bit itself in the tail, and the son was named [[Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jurich |first=Marilyn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iEPNBUkkqzsC&pg=PA160 |title=Scheherazade's Sisters: Trickster Heroines and Their Stories in World Literature |date=1998 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-29724-3 |language=en}}</ref>

It is a common belief among [[indigenous peoples|indigenous people]] of the tropical lowlands of South America that waters at the edge of the world-disc are encircled by a snake, often an anaconda, biting its own tail.<ref>{{Citation |last=Roe |first=Peter |title=The Cosmic Zygote |year=1986 |publisher=Rutgers University Press}}</ref>

The ouroboros has certain features in common with the Biblical [[Leviathan]]. According to the [[Zohar]], the Leviathan is a singular creature with no mate, "its tail is placed in its mouth", while [[Rashi]] on [[Baba Batra]] 74b describes it as "twisting around and encompassing the entire world". The identification appears to go back as far as the poems of [[Kalir]] in the 6th–7th centuries.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

=== Connection to Indian thought ===
In the ''[[Aitareya Brahmana]]'', a [[Vedas|Vedic]] text of the early 1st millennium BCE, the nature of the [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic rituals]] is compared to "a snake biting its own tail."<ref>Witzel, M., "[http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/canon.pdf The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools: The Social and Political Milieu]" in Witzel, Michael (ed.) (1997), ''Inside the Texts, Beyond the Texts. New Approaches to the Study of the Vedas'', Harvard Oriental Series, Opera Minora vol. 2, Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p. 325 footnote 346</ref>

Ouroboros symbolism has been used to describe the [[Kundalini]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Henneberg |first1=Maciej |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MQnqDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA137 |title=The Dynamic Human |last2=Saniotis |first2=Arthur |date=24 March 2016 |publisher=Bentham Science Publishers |isbn=978-1-68108-235-6 |page=137 |language=en}}</ref> According to the medieval ''[[Yoga-kundalini Upanishad]]'': "The divine power, Kundalini, shines like the stem of a young lotus; like a snake, coiled round upon herself she holds her tail in her mouth and lies resting half asleep as the base of the body" (1.82).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mahony |first=William K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B1KR_kE5ZYoC&pg=PA191 |title=The Artful Universe: An Introduction to the Vedic Religious Imagination |date=1 January 1998 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-3579-3 |page=191 |language=en}}</ref>

Storl (2004) also refers to the ouroboros image in reference to the "cycle of [[samsara]]".<ref name="Storl">"When Shakti is united with Shiva, she is a radiant, gentle goddess; but when she is separated from him, she turns into a terrible, destructive fury. She is the endless Ouroboros, the dragon biting its own tail, symbolizing the cycle of samsara." {{Cite book |last=Storl |first=Wolf-Dieter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dvo9ScSbz0IC&pg=PA219 |title=Shiva: The Wild God of Power and Ecstasy |date=2004 |publisher=Inner Traditions / Bear & Co |isbn=978-1-59477-780-6 |page=219}}</ref>

== Modern references ==

=== Jungian psychology ===
Swiss psychiatrist [[Carl Jung]] saw the ouroboros as an [[archetype]] and the basic [[mandala]] of alchemy. Jung also defined the relationship of the ouroboros to alchemy: Carl Jung, ''Collected Works'', Vol. 14 para. 513.

{{blockquote|The alchemists, who in their own way knew more about the nature of the [[individuation]] process than we moderns do, expressed this paradox through the symbol of the Ouroboros, the snake that eats its own tail. The Ouroboros has been said to have a meaning of infinity or wholeness. In the age-old image of the Ouroboros lies the thought of devouring oneself and turning oneself into a circulatory process, for it was clear to the more astute alchemists that the ''[[prima materia]]'' of the art was man himself. The Ouroboros is a dramatic symbol for the integration and assimilation of the opposite, i.e. of the shadow. This 'feedback' process is at the same time a symbol of immortality since it is said of the Ouroboros that he slays himself and brings himself to life, fertilizes himself, and gives birth to himself. He symbolizes the One, who proceeds from the clash of opposites, and he, therefore, constitutes the secret of the ''prima materia'' which ... unquestionably stems from man's unconscious.}}

The Jungian psychologist [[Erich Neumann (psychologist)|Erich Neumann]] writes of it as a representation of the pre-ego "dawn state", depicting the undifferentiated infancy experience of both humankind and the individual child.<ref>Neumann, Erich. (1995). ''The Origins and History of Consciousness.'' Bollington series XLII: [[Princeton University Press]]. Originally published in German in 1949.</ref>

=== Kekulé's dream ===
[[File:Ouroboros-benzene.svg|thumb|upright=1|The ouroboros, [[August Kekulé|Kekulé]]'s inspiration for the structure of benzene]]
[[File:Historic Benzene Formulae Kekulé (original).png|thumb|right|Kekulé's proposal for the structure of benzene (1872)]]

The German organic chemist [[August Kekulé]] described the [[eureka moment]] when he realised the structure of [[benzene]], after he saw a vision of Ouroboros:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Read |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F6J-AUOWzpMC |title=From Alchemy to Chemistry |year=1957 |isbn=978-0-486-28690-7 |pages=179–180|publisher=Courier Corporation }}</ref>

<blockquote>I was sitting, writing at my text-book; but the work did not progress; my thoughts were elsewhere. I turned my chair to the fire and dozed. Again the atoms were gamboling before my eyes. This time the smaller groups kept modestly in the background. My mental eye, rendered more acute by the repeated visions of the kind, could now distinguish larger structures of manifold conformation: long rows, sometimes more closely fitted together; all twining and twisting in snake-like motion. But look! What was that? One of the snakes had seized hold of its own tail, and the form whirled mockingly before my eyes. As if by a flash of lightning I awoke; and this time also I spent the rest of the night in working out the consequences of the hypothesis.</blockquote>

=== Cosmos ===
[[Martin Rees]] used the ouroboros to illustrate the various scales of the universe, ranging from 10<sup>−20</sup> cm (subatomic) at the tail, up to 10<sup>25</sup> cm (supragalactic) at the head.<ref>M Rees ''Just Six Numbers'' (London 1999) pp. 7–8</ref> Rees stressed "the intimate links between the microworld and the cosmos, symbolised by the ''ouraborus''", as tail and head meet to complete the circle.<ref>M Rees ''Just Six Numbers'' (London 1999) p. 161</ref>

=== Cybernetics ===
[[W. Ross Ashby]] applied ideas from biology to his own work as a psychiatrist in "Design for a Brain" (1952): that living things maintain essential variables of the body within critical limits with the brain as a regulator of the necessary feedback loops. Parmar contextualises his practices as an artist in applying the cybernetic Ouroboros principle to musical improvisation.<ref>Parmar, Robin. "No Input Software: Cybernetics, Improvisation, and the Machinic Phylum." ISSTA 2011 (2014). He further discusses the cybernetics in elementary actions (like picking up a drum stick), the evolution of cybernetic science from [[Norbert Wiener]] to [[Gordon Pask]], [[Heinz von Foerster]], and Autopoiesis, and in related fields such as [[Autocatalysis]], the philosophical system of [[Gilles Deleuze]] and [[Félix Guattari]], and [[Manuel DeLanda]].</ref>

Hence the snake eating its tail is an accepted image or metaphor in the autopoietic calculus for self-reference,<ref>Varela, Francisco J. "A Calculus for Self-reference." International Journal of General Systems 2 (1975): 5–24.</ref> or self-indication, the logical processual notation for analysing and explaining self-producing autonomous systems and "the riddle of the living", developed by [[Francisco Varela]]. Reichel describes this as:

{{blockquote|an abstract concept of a system whose structure is maintained through the self-production of and through that structure. In the words of
Kauffman, is "the ancient mythological symbol of the worm ouroboros embedded in a mathematical, non-numerical calculus".<ref>Kauffman sub-reference: Kauffman L. H. 2002. Laws of form and form dynamics. Cybernetics & Human Knowing 9(2): 49–63, pp. 57–58.</ref><ref name="Snakes all the Way Down">{{Cite journal |last=Reichel |first=André |year=2011 |title=Snakes all the Way Down: Varela's Calculus for Self-Reference and the Praxis of Paradis |journal=Systems Research and Behavioral Science |volume=28 |issue=6 |pages=646–662 |doi=10.1002/sres.1105 |s2cid=16051196| url=http://www.andrereichel.de/resources/REI_2011_Snakes.pdf}}</ref>}}

The calculus derives from the confluence of the cybernetic logic of feedback, the sub-disciplines of [[autopoiesis]] developed by Varela and [[Humberto Maturana]], and calculus of indications of [[George Spencer Brown]]. In another related biological application:

{{blockquote| It is remarkable, that Rosen's insight, that metabolism is just a mapping ..., which may be too cursory for a biologist, turns out to show us the way to construct [[Recursion|recursively]], by a limiting process, solutions of the self-referential Ouroborus equation f(f) {{=}} f, for an unknown function f, a way that mathematicians had not imagined before Rosen.<ref>Gutiérrez, Claudio, Sebastián Jaramillo, and Jorge Soto-Andrade. "Some Thoughts on A. H. Louie's ''More Than Life Itself: A Reflection on Formal Systems and Biology''." Axiomathes 21, no. 3 (2011): 439–454, p. 448.</ref><ref>Soto-Andrade, Jorge, Sebastia Jaramillo, Claudio Gutierrez, and Juan-Carlos Letelier. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20150722004806/https://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/alife/0262297140chap115.pdf Ouroboros Avatars: A Mathematical Exploration of Self-reference and Metabolic Closure]". "One of the most important characteristics observed in metabolic networks is that they produce themselves. This intuition, already advanced by the theories of Autopoiesis and (M,R)-systems, can be mathematically framed in a weird-looking equation, full of implications and potentialities: f(f) {{=}} f. This equation (here referred to as Ouroboros equation), arises in apparently dissimilar contexts, like Robert Rosen's synthetic view of metabolism, hyper set theory and, importantly, untyped lambda calculus. ... We envision that the ideas behind this equation, a unique kind of mathematical concept, initially found in biology, would play an important role in the development of a true systemic theoretical biology." MIT Press online.</ref>}}

[[Second-order cybernetics]], or the cybernetics of cybernetics, applies the principle of self-referentiality, or the participation of the observer in the observed, to explore observer involvement.<ref>Müller, K. H. [https://books.google.com/books?id=c5zXjwEACAAJ Second-order Science: The Revolution of Scientific Structures. Complexity, design, society.] Edition Echoraum, 2016.</ref> including D. J. Stewart's domain of "observer valued imparities".<ref>Scott, Bernard. "The Cybernetics of Systems of Belief". Kybernetes: The International Journal of Systems & Cybernetics 29, nos. 7–8 (2000): 995–998.</ref>

=== Armadillo girdled lizard ===
The genus of the [[armadillo girdled lizard]], ''Ouroborus cataphractus'', takes its name from the animal's defensive posture: curling into a ball and holding its own tail in its mouth.<ref>Stanley, Edward L.; Bauer, Aaron M.; Jackman, Todd R.; Branch, William R.; Mouton, P. Le Fras N. (2011). "Between a rock and a hard polytomy: Rapid radiation in the rupicolous girdled lizards (Squamata: Cordylidae)". ''[[Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution]]'' '''58''' (1): 53–70. (''Ouroborus cataphractus'', new combination).</ref>
[[File:Pescadilla frita.jpg|thumb|{{lang|es-ES|Pescadillas}} are often presented biting their tails.|alt=Two fried fish on a plate.]]

=== In Iberian culture ===
A medium-sized [[Merluccius merluccius|European hake]], known in Spanish as {{lang|es|pescadilla}} and in Portuguese as {{lang|pt|pescada}}, is often presented with its mouth biting its tail. In Spanish it receives the name of {{lang|es-ES|pescadilla de rosca}} ("[[torus]] hake").<ref name="GGG">{{cite web |last1=Spínola Bruzón |first1=Carlos |title=Pescadilla; entre pijota y pescada.- Grupo Gastronómico Gaditano |url=http://grupogastronomicogaditano.com/Articulos/PijotaPescadillaPescada.htm |website=grupogastronomicogaditano.com |publisher=Grupo Gastronómico Gaditano |access-date=28 October 2021 |language=es-ES |quote=La pescadilla se fríe en forma de rosca, de modo que la cola esté cogida por los dientes del pez.}}</ref> Both expressions {{lang|pt|Uma pescadinha de rabo na boca}} "tail-in mouth little hake" and {{lang|es|La pescadilla que se muerde la cola}}, "the hake that bites its tail", are proverbial Portuguese and Spanish expressions for [[circular reasoning]] and [[vicious circle]]s.<ref name="DRAE">{{cite book |title=Diccionario de la lengua española |date=2014 |publisher=RAE-ASALE |edition=24th |url=https://dle.rae.es/pescadilla |access-date=28 October 2021 |language=es |chapter=pescadilla}}</ref>

=== Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling ===
The [[Kobe]], Japan-based [[Dragon Gate (wrestling)|Dragon Gate]] Pro-Wrestling promotion used a stylised ouroboros as their logo for the first 20 years of the company's existence. The logo is a silhouetted dragon twisted into the shape of an infinity symbol, devouring its own tail. In 2019, the promotion dropped the infinity dragon logo in favour of a shield logo.

=== In fiction ===
==== Literature ====

A variation of the Ouroboros motif is an important symbol in the fantasy novel ''[[The Neverending Story]]'' by [[Michael Ende]]: featuring two snakes, one black and one white, biting the other's tail, this symbol represents the powerful [[AURYN]] and the infinite nature of the story. The symbol is also featured prominently on the cover of both the fictional book and the novel.

''[[The Worm Ouroboros]]'' is a high-fantasy novel written by [[E. R. Eddison]]. Much like the cyclical symbol of the ouroboros eating its own tail, the novel ends as it begins. The main villain has a ring in the form of Ouroboros.

In ''[[Mexican Gothic]]'' the symbol is used throughout the story, portraying the immortality of the home and the family, as well as the persistence of outdated ideologies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LitCharts |url=https://www.litcharts.com/lit/mexican-gothic/symbols/the-ouroboros |access-date=2024-08-23 |website=LitCharts |language=en}}</ref> 

In ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' and its [[The Wheel of Time (TV series)|2021 television adaption]], the Aes Sedai wear a "Great Serpent" ring, described as a snake consuming its own tail.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jacobs |first1=Mira |title=The Wheel of Time Star Hints at What to Look For in Aes Sedai Rings |url=https://www.cbr.com/wheel-of-time-rosamund-pike-aes-sedai-rings/ |work=[[Comic Book Resources]]}}</ref> 

In the science fiction short story "[[All You Zombies]]" (1958) by American writer [[Robert A. Heinlein]], the character Jane wears an Ouroboros ring, "the worm Ouroboros, the world snake".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gomel |first1=Elena |title=Postmodern Science Fiction and Temporal Imagination |date=2010 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |page=55}}</ref> The short story later inspired the movie ''[[Predestination (film)|Predestination]]'' (2014).

In the [[SCP Foundation]] universe, the proposal tale "The Ouroboros Cycle"<ref>{{cite web |title=The Ouroboros Cycle Proposal|url=https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/ouroboros |access-date=19 December 2023}}</ref> spans the story of the SCP Foundation from its creation to its ending.

In the ''[[A Discovery of Witches]]'' novels and [[A Discovery of Witches (TV series)|television]] adaptation, the crest of the de Clermont family is an ouroboros. The symbol plays a significant role in the [[Alchemy|alchemical]] plot of the story.

In ''[[The Witcher]]'', the Ouroboros and the "snake biting its own tail" is a recurring theme.

==== Film and television ====
The Ouroboros is the adopted symbol of the [[Eschatology|End Times]]-obsessed [[Millennium Group]] in the TV series [[Millennium (TV series)|''Millennium'']].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Black |first1=A. J. |title=Myth-Building in Modern Media The Role of the Mytharc in Imagined Worlds |date=2020 |publisher=McFarland |page=43}}</ref> It also briefly appears when [[Dana Scully]] gets a tattoo of it in ''[[The X-Files]]'' Season 4 episode "[[Never Again (The X-Files)|Never Again]]" (1997).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Delasara |first1=Jan |title=PopLit, PopCult and The X-Files A Critical Exploration |date=2015 |publisher=McFarland |page=9}}</ref>

"[[Ouroboros (Red Dwarf)|Ouroboros]]" is an episode of the British science-fiction sitcom ''[[Red Dwarf]]'', in which [[Dave Lister]] learns that he is his own father through time travel.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ouroboros |url=https://reddwarf.co.uk/episodes/ouroboros/ |website=Red Dwarf: The Official Site |publisher=Grant Naylor Productions |access-date=10 October 2022}}</ref> 

In Season 1 (2012) of ''[[Ninjago]]'' titled "[[Ninjago: Rise of the Snakes]]", the Lost City of Ouroboros (also referred to as the Ancient City of Ouroboros) serves as a pivotal location in the Serpentine's plan for vengeance against Ninjago. Once a massive Serpentine city, Ouroboros was buried beneath the Sea of Sand after the Serpentine War. The city was key to Pythor and the Serpentine's efforts to awaken the Great Devourer, which had been imprisoned beneath the city. After retrieving the four Fangblades, Pythor returned to Ouroboros and successfully released the Great Devourer, causing significant damage to the city. Despite the destruction, the Serpentine continued to use the city as a temporary base before abandoning it to journey to the tomb of the Stone Army.

In [[Hemlock Grove (TV series)|Hemlock Grove]] (2013-2015), the ouroboros plays an important part throughout the series.

In Season 3 (2014), [[Ninjago: Rebooted]], during the Nindroid crisis, Pythor once again used Ouroboros as a base of operations. Here, he led an army of Nindroids and launched a giant rocket into space in search of the comet that held the remnants of the Golden Weapons.

In Season 1 (2018) of the [[cyberpunk]] Netflix series ''[[Altered Carbon (TV series)|Altered Carbon]]'', the protagonist Takeshi Kovacs gets an ouroboros tattoo in shape of an [[infinity symbol]], and it features in the show's title sequence, tying in to the themes of rebirth and the twisting of the natural cycle of life and death.<ref>{{cite news |title=Why Takeshi's Tattoo In Altered Carbon Means More Than You Think |url=https://www.looper.com/262802/why-takeshis-tattoo-in-altered-carbon-means-more-than-you-think/ |work=Looper}}</ref> 

In the season 2 premiere of the television series ''[[Loki (TV series)|Loki]]'', a character named Ouroboros (played by [[Ke Huy Quan]]) is introduced. He is an employee of the Time Variance Authority. In the fourth episode, he also references a snake biting its own tail.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Owens |first1=Lucy |title=Loki Season 2: There's A Secret Meaning Behind A Fan Favorite Character's Name |url=https://gamerant.com/loki-season-2-ke-huy-quan-ouroboros-name-meaning/ |work=[[Game Rant]]}}</ref>

In the anime ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood]]'', members of the [[Homunculi (Fullmetal Alchemist)|homunculi]] race are identified by having the symbol carved/tattooed/branded/marked on them.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Kemner |first1=Louis |last2=Aravind |first2=Ajay |last3=Turner |first3=Lauren |date=2019-10-05 |title=The Symbols & Logos In Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Explained |url=https://www.cbr.com/fullmetal-alchemist-brotherhood-symbols-explained/ |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=CBR |language=en}}</ref>

The Abiranariba in ''[[The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance]]'' is based on the ouroboros.

==== Gaming ====
''[[Splatoon 3]]'' has a serpent-like Salmonid creature named after it, the Horrorboros.<ref>{{cite news |title=Splatoon 3: Big Run's King Salmonid Continue a Clever Boss Pattern |url=https://gamerant.com/splatoon-3-big-run-king-salmonid-cohozuna-horrorboros-special-weapon-boss-pattern/ |work=[[Game Rant]]}}</ref>

''[[Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere]]'''s main antagonist group is a terrorist organization called Ouroboros, whose intention is to cripple Strangereal's megacorporations in the continent of Usea.

''[[Trails (series)|The Legend of Heroes: Trails]]'' features the enigmatic Society of Ouroboros, whose members serve as recurring antagonists in the series.

In ''[[Xenoblade Chronicles 3]]'', the player's party wields a power named after Ouroboros, which is subversively used to ''oppose'' the world's cycle of death and rebirth, rather than representing it.

In ''[[The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt]]'', an ouroboros spins on loading screens as an indiciation for the game loading.

A three-headed ouroboros is the logo of ''[[The Elder Scrolls Online|Elder Scrolls Online]]'', with a lion, a dragon, and an eagle that represent the three main factions of the game.

In ''[[Inscryption]]'', Ouroboros is a playable card that has the ability to return to the player's hand as a stronger version of itself after it has been killed.

==== Music ====

In [[King Woman]]'s album ''[[Celestial Blues]]'' (2021), Ourobouros is alluded to in the song "Golgotha": "The snake eats its tail, we return again to this hell".<ref>{{cite web |title=King Woman – Golgotha Lyrics |url=https://www.metalkingdom.net/lyrics-song/king-woman-golgotha-248807 |website=Metal Kingdom |access-date=16 March 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Sculpture ====
[[File:Ouroboros, Canberra.jpg|thumb|Ouroboros, Canberra]]
''[https://nga.gov.au/art-artists/sculpture-garden/lindylee-ouroboros/ Ouroboros]'', a large public sculpture by Australian artist [[Lindy Lee]] at the [[National Gallery of Australia]] forecourt.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jefferson |first=Dee |date=October 23, 2024 |title=National Gallery of Australia's $14m behemoth artwork unveiled – and it's a showstopper |website=[[TheGuardian.com]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2024/oct/24/national-gallery-of-australia-lindy-lee-ouroboros-sculpture }}</ref> Members of the public are free to enter its 4{{nbsp}}m "mouth".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-24/act-national-gallery-unveils-14-million-ouroboros-sculpture/104512598 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |author=Lottie Twyford |title=Thirteen tonne $14 million Ouroboros sculpture unveiled at National Gallery of Australia}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Columns-list|colwidth=25em|
* [[Amphisbaena]]
* [[Cyclic model]]
* [[Dragon (M. C. Escher)|''Dragon'' (M. C. Escher)]]
* [[Endless knot]]
* ''[[Ensō]]''
* [[Eternal return (Eliade)]]
* [[Eternalism (philosophy of time)]]
* [[Historic recurrence]]
* [[Hoop snake]]
* [[Infinite loop]]
* [[Kulshedra]]
* [[Möbius strip]]
* [[Quine (computing)]]
* [[Self-fulfilling prophecy]]
* [[Self-licking ice cream cone]]
* [[Self-reference]]
* [[Social cycle theory]]
* [[Strange loop]]
* [[Three hares]]
* [[Valknut]]
* ''[[The Worm Ouroboros]]''
}}

== References ==

=== Notes ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
* {{Cite book |last=Bayley |first=Harold S |url=http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Bayley%2C%20Harold |title=New Light on the Renaissance |publisher=Kessinger |year=1909 |postscript=. Reference pages hosted by the University of Pennsylvania}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hornung |first=Erik |title=The Secret Lore of Egypt: Its Impact on the West |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=2002}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Liddell |first1=Henry George |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.04.0057 |title=A Greek-English Lexicon |last2=Scott |first2=Robert |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1940 |location=Oxford |via=perseus.tufts.edu}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}

* [http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20171204-the-ancient-symbol-that-spanned-millennia BBC Culture – The ancient symbol that spanned millennia]

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{{Greek religion|state=collapsed}}
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