Step 5 of 11

Look into the eyes

Figure 8: Close up of Octopus Stirrup Jar M-3 - [Doi 2006 - pl. 213](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1446093/)

Figure 8: Close up of Octopus Stirrup Jar M-3 - Doi 2006 - pl. 213

Hypnotizing eyes. Eyes that have circles around a central dot are either Cretan or East-Attic. The kind that are presented as a continuous spiral are almost exclusively seen in the East-Attic tradition, and rarely occur on Cretan examples.Whereas the Cretan examples typically have their eyes drawn as concentric circles around a central spot, the East-Attic octopuses sport two different variants: some, like the vase we’re discussing, have eyes in the shape of several concentric circles around a dot or circle, whereas others have spiral-shaped eyes. For more information see 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), 32-33/174-175/204-206. So going by the eyes is not enough.