The ancient Greek philosopher left Plato’s Academy following his mentor’s death, swapping the city of Athens for the island of Lesbos where he spent two years observing the marine life of a lagoon at the island’s center.
This deceptive appendage, called a hectocotylus, was first recorded by Aristotle around the year 347 BC in one of the earliest surviving scientific studies.
To put that in context, the name “octopus” is the species equivalent of referring to a human male as a triped. In other words, the eighth leg is a penis. They have seven tentacles and a specialized limb for transferring sperm. There’s nothing “octo” about the male octopus. I’ve lived my whole life believing an octagon has eight sides, my 83-year-old nanna is an octogenarian, and an octopus has eight goddamn legs-it’s basic linguistics.īut now, at the auspicious age of 33, I have to accept that I’ve been suckered. The very name-derived from the Greek word októpus, meaning “eight foot”-has led us down the garden path. It’s a little known fact that a male octopus’s eighth leg is actually its penis. This article is featured in Gossamer Volume Seven: Touch.
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