The Mycenaean palace amphora with octopus in the

National Archaeological Museum of Athens The National Archaeological Museum () in Athens houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity. It is considered one of the greatest museums in the world and ...

(NAMA) with inventory number Π 6725 is dated to the 15th century BC. It was found in the second grave of the Mycenaean cemetery at

Prosymna Prosymna () was a town in ancient Argolis, in whose territory the celebrated Heraion of Argos, Heraeum, or temple of Hera, stood. Statius gives it the epithet "celsa." Pausanias (geographer), Pausanias mentions only a district of this name. Accord ...

, near Argos. It is a three-handled

amphora An amphora (; ; English ) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storage rooms and packages, tied together with rope and delivered by land ...

, which belongs to the category of the so-called Palace amphorae, which arrived in the Greek mainland in the Late Helladic II and was heavily influenced by

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and Minoan art, energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan pa ...

palace amphorae.On palace amphorae, see: Penelope A. Mountjoy, ''Mycenaean Pottery. An Introduction.'' Oxford University Press, 2nd edition. 2001, pp. 44f. It is decorated with a sea-themed scene, with rocks, seaweed, and three large octopuses, whose long tentacles wind around the whole vase. The work is attributed to a Mycenaean vase painter who was working entirely within the tradition of " Marine Style" Cretan Minoan vase painting.

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Image on the "Digital Collection" of the Greek Ministry for Culture and Sport
{{National Archaeological Museum of Athens Archaeological discoveries in the Peloponnese Amphorae National Archaeological Museum, Athens Mycenaean art Argos, Peloponnese Minoan vase painting