THE SCENE: The ancient natural historian Pliny the Elder describes the macabre scene of what happens when octopuses attack.
THE TEXT: Trebius Niger also adds that no animal was more savage in killing a man in the water than an Octopus. It struggles with him, embracing him with its tentacles, swallows at him with its many suckers and pulls him apart; it attacks shipwrecked men or men who are diving. If, however, the octopus turns over, its strength diminishes; for when these creatures are on their backs they collapse inwardly. The other facts recounted by Niger may appear rather bizarre.
– Natural Histories, Pliny, 1st Century AD
