Octopus: a longer tradition?

Despite the apparent break between the Palatial and Post-palatial periods, we can also note several continuities in Mycenaean art. The existence of these continuities aligns with recent interpretations stating that the fall of the Mycenaean palaces did not form a sudden or complete collapse, but rather the outcome of a longer period of general unrest.See e.g., Rutter 1992,‘Cultural Novelties in the Post-Palatial Aegean World: Indices of Vitality or Decline?’, 70. As such, it is not surprising that the OSJs from the twelfth century - such as our stirrup jar - in some ways recall depictions of octopuses from earlier centuries.

Despite the apparent break between the Palatial and Post-palatial periods, we can also note several continuities in Mycenaean art. The existence of these continuities aligns with recent interpretations stating that the fall of the Mycenaean palaces did not form a sudden or complete collapse, but rather the outcome of a longer period of general unrest.See e.g., Rutter 1992,‘Cultural Novelties in the Post-Palatial Aegean World: Indices of Vitality or Decline?’, 70. As such, it is not surprising that the OSJs from the twelfth century - such as our stirrup jar - in some ways recall depictions of octopuses from earlier centuries.

In fact, craftsmen from the mainland had been depicting octopods in various artistic media as early as the Pre-Palatial period (cc. 1600-1400 BCE). Like Mycenaean art from this period in general, these early productions were heavily influenced by prototypes from Neopalatial Crete. However, whereas the Cretan examples are renowned for their energetic, vivid character, the octopuses and other marine motifs from the mainland generally became static and standardized. For more information on the marine motifs and octopus style, see Hurwit 1979, ‘The Dendra Octopus Cup and the Problem of Style in the Fifteenth Century Aegean’, 413-426; Castleden 2005, The Mycenaeans, London, 134; Crowley 2008, ‘Mycenaean Art and Architecture’, 273-274. For instance, compare the so-called “Ambushed Octopus” from Knossos with the Dendra Octopus Cup found in one of the shaft graves near Mycenae (Fig. 1 and 2).

By approximately 1450 BCE, the iconography of the ‘Marine Style’ (which flourished between around 1500 and 1450 BCE) started to integrate with that of other styles inspired by the Minoans to form the so-called ‘Palatial Style’.Castleden 2005, The Mycenaeans, London, 134. As noted previously, art from the following two centuries was of a highly conservative character, meaning that the use of the octopus and other sea motifs was continued until the very destruction of the palaces – and beyond. Hence, octopuses occur on a variety of carriers, such as frescoes within palaces located either on the mainland (Pylos, Mycenae, Tiryns) or on Crete (Knossos, Ayia Triadha), on larnakes (small chests used for storing the remains of the dead), and on several types of pottery.See Immerwahr 1990, Aegean painting in the Bronze Age, University Park (PA), 102; Castleden 2005, The Mycenaeans, London, 117/134; Crowley 2008, ‘Mycenaean Art and Architecture’, 273; Berg 2013, ‘The Potter’s Wheel in Mycenaean Greece: A Reassessment’, in: Giampaolo Graziadio et al (eds.), Φιλική Συναυλία Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology for Mario Benzi , Oxford, 13/15.

While it is difficult to prove or determine whether particular Post-Palatial artworks were (directly) inspired by some other specific piece of art, the octopus stirrup jars from both Crete and the mainland sometimes show interesting parallels with Palatial octopus art. In fact, the earliest Post-Palatial octopus stirrup jars from Crete can barely be differentiated from examples from the last phase of the Palatial period, which most likely indicates that they were produced only shortly afterwards (relatively speaking). Additionally, on the mainland some early octopus stirrup jars bring to mind octopus kraters (another type of pottery-vessel) from the final stage of the Palatial Period.Doi 2006, The octopus style: A study of octopus-painted Aegean pottery of 12th-11th centuries BCE, its regional styles, development and social significance (Doctoral thesis, University College London), 28-29/167-168/174-177/180/203-207/233/432-433. Thus, we can discern a certain degree of continuity between Palatial and Post-Palatial octopuses painted on ceramics – and perhaps also fresco paintings.

Nevertheless, there are also obvious differences. For instance, octopuses from the Palatial Period occur on a range of different media, while in the subsequent era they became virtually restricted to pottery, especially stirrup jars.Mountjoy 1986, Mycenaean Decorated Pottery: A Guide to Identification, 155-156; Rutter 1992, ‘Cultural Novelties in the Post-Palatial Aegean World: Indices of Vitality or Decline?’, 61-65; Doi 2006, The octopus style: A study of octopus-painted Aegean pottery of 12th-11th centuries BCE, its regional styles, development and social significance (Doctoral thesis, University College London), 2/29/240. Furthermore, stirrup jars didn’t have such zoomorphic decorations before the time of the palaces, yet these rather suddenly came to prominence.Rutter 1992, ‘Cultural Novelties in the Post-Palatial Aegean World: Indices of Vitality or Decline?’, 63. The various styles of painting on these vessels also reveal a far greater amount of innovation than had been the case in the time of the palaces, as discussed earlier.