How to calculate $z^4 + \frac1{z^4}$ if $z^2 + z + 1 = 0$?

Given that $z^2 + z + 1 = 0$ where $z$ is a complex number, how do I proceed in calculating $z^4 + \dfrac1{z^4}$?

Calculating the complex roots and then the result could be an answer I suppose, but it's not quite elegant. What alternatives are there?

From $z^2 + z + 1 = 0$, we have $$z +\frac{1}{z}=-1.$$ Taking square, we get $$z^2 +\frac{1}{z^2}+2=1,$$ which implies that $$z^2 +\frac{1}{z^2}=-1.$$ I think you will know what to do next.

Essentially the same calculation also follows from the observation that $x^2+x+1=\phi_3(x)$ is the third cyclotomic polynomial. So $z^3-1=(z-1)(z^2+z+1)=0$, and hence $z^3=1$ for any solution $z$. Therefore $$ z^4+\frac{1}{z^4}=z\cdot z^3+\frac{(z^3)^2}{z^4}=z+z^2=-1. $$

$$\begin{align*} z^4+\frac1{z^4}&=(-z-1)^2+\frac1{(-z-1)^2}\\ &=z^2+2z+1+\frac1{z^2+2z+1}\\ &=(-z-1)+2z+1+\frac1{(-z-1)+2z+1}\\ &=z+\frac1{z}=\frac{z^2+1}{z}=\frac{-z-1+1}{z}=-1 \end{align*}$$

Here is an alternative approach: let's consider $z^{8}+1$ , and then divide by $z^{4}$.

By using geometric series, notice that $$z^{8}+z^{7}+z^{6}+z^{5}+z^{4}+z^{3}+z^{2}+z+1=\left(z^{2}+z+1\right)\left(z^{6}+z^{3}+1\right)=0.$$ Now, as $z^{2}+z+1=0$, we know that both $z^{7}+z^{6}+z^{5}=0$ and $z^{3}+z^{2}+z=0$, and hence $$z^{8}+z^{4}+1=0$$ so that $z^{8}+1=-z^{4}$. Thus, we conclude that $$z^{4}+\frac{1}{z^{4}}=-1.$$