Decoding serpentine paradox
The gold burial mask of the ancient Egyptian king Tutankhamun on display at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. This paradoxical aspect aligns well with a ruler like Octavian, who was capable of delivering deadly strikes to his enemies and yet was eager to be perceived as a healer of the war-ravaged Roman world. The Roman world embraced snake imagery, incorporating it into frescoes, mosaics, statues, and gold bracelets whose circular design evokes the ancient symbol of the Ouroboros — a serpent devouring its own tail. Echoing the Egyptian theme of eternal life, the snake plays a significant role in The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest known works of literature, originating from ancient Mesopotamia around 2100 BC. The loss, widely interpreted as symbolizing the inevitability of death, reinforces the epic's central theme: the wisdom gained through accepting life's limitations, and the importance of finding meaning within those limitations.
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