Artist: Salvador Dalí
Title: L'Ouroboros
Medium: Drypoint, lithograph and screenprint in corlors with collage of swarowski
Serie: L' "Alchimie des Philosophes"
Year: 1976
Edition: EA/XXX
Sizes: 77,3 x 57,4 cm
Bibliograph/Published: Michler & Löpsinger 843
Signature: Signed on pencil center
Condition: original conditions
The ouroboros or uroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. The ouroboros entered Western tradition via ancient Egyptian iconography and the Greek magical tradition. It was adopted as a symbol in Gnosticism and Hermeticism and most notably in alchemy.
Some snakes, such as rat snakes, have been known to consume themselves. One captive snake attempted to consume itself twice, dying in the second attempt. Another wild rat snake was found having swallowed about two-thirds of its body
Name and interpretation
The term derives from Ancient Greek οὐροβόρος, from οὐρά oura 'tail' plus -βορός -boros '-eating'.
The ouroboros is often interpreted as a symbol for eternal cyclic renewal or a cycle of life, death and rebirth; the snake's skin-sloughing symbolises the transmigration of souls. The snake biting its own tail is a fertility symbol in some religions: the tail is a phallic symbol and the mouth is a yonic or womb-like symbol.
