Laocoön and his Sons

At the end of class on Friday, I mentioned my favorite statue of the Hellenistic art period. It's Laocoön and his Sons by Agesander, Athenodoros, and Polydoros. I highly recommend mentioning this statue to Dr. Ramos - it's a hoot. Anyway, the state depicts a scene that Vergil later descried in the Aeneid in which a snake comes out of the sea and kills Laocoön (a priest of Neptune and vehement dissident of accepting the Trojan Horse) and his sons; it's super epic (heh). Anyway, the piece exemplifies the characteristic Hellenistic melodramatic emotion. Just look at Laocoön's terror and remorse.... Just like you're in the scene, right?