Part of them

Looking at the fish or dolphin-like creature to the left, we see a similar pattern. It makes it harder to claim that we are dealing with waves or shells. The pattern is used in the fish or dolphin as filler to avoid empty spaces, or maybe to suggest scales. It seems likely that the abstract shapes are used to shape the octopus’ body.

Another Mycenaean vase, a wine mixing vessel (krater) which is dated a bit earlier than this octopus stirrup jar, also shows these linear shapes, but in a distinctly non-marine setting (Fig. 18). Here,they are explicitly used as filler to avoid having empty spaces on the canvas of the pottery. It therefore seems more apt to consider the usage of this pattern, in the case of the octopus and fish or dolphin, as a stylized expression of the creatures themselves. However, the fact that these patterns are almost instantly reminiscent of the waves of the sea shows that the influence and presence of the sea is never far away.