Editing Cephalopod (section)

==In culture==
{{Further|Cephalopods in popular culture}}
[[File:Colossal octopus by Pierre Denys de Montfort.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Pen and [[Wash (visual arts)|wash]] drawing of an imagined colossal octopus attacking a ship, by the [[malacologist]] [[Pierre Denys de Montfort|Pierre de Montfort]], 1801|alt=Coloured drawing of a huge octopus rising from the sea and attacking a sailing ship's three masts with its spiraling arms]]

Ancient seafaring people were aware of cephalopods, as evidenced by such artworks as a stone carving found in the archaeological recovery from Bronze Age [[Minoan civilization|Minoan Crete]] at [[Knossos]] (1900 – 1100 BC), which has a depiction of a fisherman carrying an octopus.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hogan |first=C. Michael |date=22 December 2007 |url=http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/10854/knossos.html#fieldnotes |title=Knossos fieldnotes|website=The Modern Antiquarian}}</ref> The terrifyingly powerful [[Gorgon]] of [[Greek mythology]] may have been inspired by the octopus or squid, the octopus's body representing the severed head of [[Medusa]], the beak as the protruding tongue and fangs, and its tentacles as the snakes.<ref>{{cite book |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=OnHO4orvz18C}} |title=Medusa: Solving the Mystery of the Gorgon |last=Wilk|first=Stephen R.|date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-988773-6}}</ref>

[[File:NROL-39 Patch.jpg|thumb|The [[NROL-39]] mission patch, depicting the [[National Reconnaissance Office]] as an octopus with a long reach|alt=A mission badge of an octopus spanning the world against a starry background, labelled "NROL-39" and "Nothing is beyond our reach"]]
The [[kraken]] is a legendary sea monster of giant proportions said to dwell off the coasts of Norway and Greenland, usually portrayed in art as a giant cephalopod attacking ships. [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]] included it in the first edition of his 1735 ''[[Systema Naturae]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=WfQTAAAAQAAJ|page=82}} |title=Caroli Linnaei Systema naturae sistens regna tria naturae |work=google.com}}</ref><ref name=metropolitana>{{cite book |first1=Edward |last1=Smedley |first2=Hugh James |last2=Rose |first3=Henry John |last3=Rose |title=Encyclopaedia Metropolitana, Or, Universal Dictionary of Knowledge: Comprising the Twofold Advantage of a Philosophical and an Alphabetical Arrangement, with Appropriate Engravings |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=3X1GAQAAIAAJ|page=255}} |year=1845 |publisher=B. Fellowes |pages=255–}}</ref> In a Hawaiian [[creation myth]] that says the present cosmos is the last of a series which arose in stages from the ruins of the previous universe, the octopus is the lone survivor of the previous, alien universe.<ref name=Dixon>{{cite book |volume=9| last=Dixon | first=Roland Burrage | author-link=Roland Burrage Dixon | title=Oceanic | series=The Mythology of All Races | url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=gLIIAQAAIAAJ&pg=PP2}}| date=1916 | publisher=Marshall Jones Company | pages=2–}}</ref> The [[Akkorokamui]] is a gigantic tentacled [[monster]] from [[Ainu people|Ainu]] folklore.<ref name="Batchelor">{{cite book | last = Batchelor |first=John| title = The Ainu and Their Folklore | url = https://archive.org/details/b29010664 | location = London | publisher = The Religious Tract Society |year=1901}}</ref>

A battle with an octopus plays a significant role in [[Victor Hugo]]'s book ''Travailleurs de la mer'' (''[[Toilers of the Sea]]''), relating to his time in exile on [[Guernsey]].<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Octopus}}</ref> 
[[Ian Fleming]]'s 1966 short story collection ''[[Octopussy and The Living Daylights]]'', and the 1983 [[Octopussy|''James Bond'' film]] were partly inspired by Hugo's book.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Cohen-Vrignaud|first1=Gerard |title=On Octopussies, or the Anatomy of Female Power |journal=Differences|date=2012 |volume=23|issue=2 |pages=32–61 |doi=10.1215/10407391-1533520}}</ref>

Japanese erotic art, ''[[shunga]]'', includes [[ukiyo-e]] woodblock prints such as [[Katsushika Hokusai]]'s 1814 print ''Tako to ama'' ([[The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife]]), in which an [[ama diver]] is sexually intertwined with a large and a small octopus.<ref name=Helsinki>{{cite book|first1=Sointu |last1=Fritze|first2=Saara|last2= Suojoki|title=Forbidden Images: Erotic Art from Japan's Edo Period|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=QRtmAAAACAAJ|pate=23}}|year=2000|publisher=Helsingin kaupungin taidemuseo|isbn=978-951-8965-54-4| language=fi | pages=23–28 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=Japanese Erotic Fantasies: Sexual Imagery of the Edo Period| last=Uhlenbeck | first=Chris | author2=Margarita Winkel | author3=Ellis Tinios | author4=Amy Reigle Newland | year=2005 | publisher=Hotei | isbn=978-90-74822-66-4 | page=161}}</ref> The print is a forerunner of [[tentacle erotica]].<ref name="Briel">{{cite book |last=Briel |first=Holger |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=e-aWWTZeergC|page=203}} |title=Comics As a Nexus of Cultures: Essays on the Interplay of Media, Disciplines |date=2010 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-3987-4 |editor1-last=Berninger |editor1-first=Mark |page=203 |chapter=The Roving Eye Meets Traveling Pictures: The Field of Vision and the Global Rise of Adult Manga |editor2-last=Ecke |editor2-first=Jochen |editor3-last=Haberkorn |editor3-first=Gideon}}</ref>

Its many arms that emanate from a common center means that the octopus is sometimes used to symbolize a powerful and manipulative organization.<ref>{{cite web | last=Smith | first=S. | url=http://www.imediaethics.org/why-mark-zuckerberg-octopus-cartoon-evokes-nazi-propaganda-german-paper-apologizes/ | title=Why Mark Zuckerberg Octopus Cartoon Evokes 'Nazi Propaganda,' German Paper Apologizes | publisher=iMediaEthics |date=26 February 2010| access-date=31 May 2017}}</ref>