BETA
Chapter 1
The mountain spark of Nietzsche's big idea
Chapter 2
Ancient loops around the global past
Chapter 3
The ultimate psychological test of your life
Chapter 4
Modern echoes in pop culture and science
YOUR GOAL
Master of Nietzsche and the eternal recurrence
Ch 2 · Ancient loops around the global past
gertrude Eternal Recurrence
Imagine every moment, a loop, endlessly returning, Would you live your life again, with no regret or yearning?
gertrude Indigenous Mesoamerican civilizations calculated time as a complex, interlocking gear system of repeating eras.
gertrude Ancient Greek Stoic philosophers believed the universe periodically burned down and restarted exactly the same way.
Fun Fact
The oldest tail-biter: The Ouroboros, a snake eating its own tail to represent eternity, was first found on a golden shrine in King Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt.
Quiz
In Hindu cosmology, what is the name for the great cycles of time that last 4.32 million years?
Quiz
What ancient Greek philosophical school believed the universe periodically resets in a great fire called 'ekpyrosis'?
Quiz
How many years made up a full calendar round in the cyclical time system of the ancient Aztecs?
Quiz
Which Stoic philosopher founded the school in Athens around 300 BCE that taught the cyclical rebirth of the cosmos?
Quiz
Which ancient Egyptian concept of cosmic balance and order dictated that life and nature exist in a continuous cycle of renewal?
Quiz
Where was the oldest known drawing of the Ouroboros—the snake eating its tail—discovered by archaeologists?