Laocoon

In our reading from Fleming last week they had a picture of a state of Laocoon as an example of a Hellenistic statue. This statue is not only praised for its incredible detail and showing of emotion, but it also has a interesting back story that we learned about in Latin class. In the Aeneid, Laocoon is a priest of Poseidon from Troy when the Greeks tried invaded Troy with the giant wooden horse. When the Trojans found the horse they began to argue what to do about it. Some Trojans wanted to welcome it into the city walls and celebrate it. Other Trojans on the other hand wanted to burn the effigy or keep it outside the city walls. Laocoon was one of these people. He famously said the lines "I fear the Greeks, even those bearing gifts" in the Aeneid. After this he runs up to the horse and strikes it with a spear. Later on Poseidon, who was on the side of the Greeks in the war, sent two snakes after Laocoon and his children. These snakes strangled and ate Laocoon and his children (depicted in the statue), before anyone could heed his words. The statue is missing a few pieces of the children, and the is damage to the shoulder of Laocoon. Also the children in the statue don't look like children today. Instead they just look like mini-adults, this seemed to be a problem for the Greeks during this time.