A bronze coin from the 5th century BC was set into this sterling silver pendant. depicting an octopus. On the reverse of the coin we can see the head of the Nymph Arethusa with a dolphin.
In Greek coinage, the octopus has a positive value, which was probably the reason for the choice of its representation on many ancient figurative documents as an emblem of the human ability to overcome adversity. Symbolically, it invites us to strip ourselves of what is no longer useful and prevents us from improving ourselves. Thus, as the octopus can recreate the amputated tentacles, man can change and renew himself in depth.
Cunning and wisdom are also associated with this animal. The octopus is often associated with Poseidon, with the founding hero Taras, with Scylla, with the Gorgoneion, with the eponymous nymph Arethusa, figures that belong to a very ancient substrate; in this perspective it recalls the idea of the journey, of the passage, of the transformations that occur in human existence.