Subterfuge
The octopus is often drawn as intelligent, mendacious and deceitful. The octopus tries to present itself as something other than an octopus. These include: appearing as the bearer of gifts in the Forty Thieves, as a Trojan Horse, misdirection in the “Hunting the Octopus” or as treasure on an island. This was a relatively common visual metaphor circa 1900, but only makes a limited appearance after 1910.
