Laocoön, marble sculpture attributed to Agesander, Athenodorus, and Polydorus of Rhodes (or perhaps a Roman copy), 2nd century bce–1st century ce; in the Vatican Museums, Vatican City.

Who commissioned the Laocoön?

The Laocoön sculpture was first documented by the writer Pliny, the Elder who saw it in the Imperial Palace of Emperor Titus. It was commissioned by the emperor in the first century A.D. and made by sculptors from Rhodes as a copy of a bronze Greek original from the 2nd century B.C.

Why was Laocoön and his sons created?

The History and Style

Pliny tells us that three sculptures from Rhodes: Polydoros, Athanadoros, and Hagesandros created the Laocoön group. Laocoön was the name of the high priest of Troy who predicted the tragedy of the Trojan horse. ... Apparently, Laocoön and his two sons were killed by snakes sent by Athena.

Did Michelangelo make the Laocoön?

The discovery of the Laocoön grouping was one of the most momentous of the Renaissance era. It had a lasting impact on sculptors, most notably Michelangelo. In January 1506 a landowner, Felice de Fredis, ordered construction work in a vineyard on his property on the slopes of Rome's Esquiline Hill.

Who is Laocoön?

Laocoön, in Greek legend, a seer and a priest of the god Apollo; he was the son of Agenor of Troy or, according to some, the brother of Anchises (the father of the hero Aeneas). ... This legend found its most famous expressions in Virgil's Aeneid (ii, 109 et seq.)

Laocoön and his sons

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What story was told by the Laocoön sculpture?

The Story of Laocoön

Specifically, this piece portrays a story from the Greek Epic Cycle, a collection of poems detailing the Trojan War. According to legend, Laocoön was a priest from Troy, who—along with his two sons, Antiphantes and Thymbraeus—was attacked by sea serpents sent by a god.

Is Laocoon and His Sons Greek or Roman?

An icon of Hellenistic art, the figurative Greek sculpture known as the Laocoon Group, or Laocoon and His Sons, is a monumental statue which is on display at the Museo Pio Clementino, in the Vatican Museums, Rome.

Who was Laocoön in the Trojan War?

Laocoön (/leɪˈɒkoʊˌɒn, -kəˌwɒn/; Ancient Greek: Λαοκόων, romanized: Laokóōn, IPA: [laokóɔːn], gen.: Λαοκόοντος), the son of Acoetes, is a figure in Greek and Roman mythology and the Epic Cycle. He was a Trojan priest who was attacked, with his two sons, by giant serpents sent by the gods.

Why were Laocoon and his sons attacked by snakes?

In Virgil, Laocoön was a priest of Poseidon who was killed with both his sons after attempting to expose the ruse of the Trojan Horse by striking it with a spear. ... The snakes are depicted as both biting and constricting, and are probably intended as venomous, as in Virgil.

Which artist was particularly influenced by Laocoon and His Sons?

Michelangelo was proven correct over four centuries later! From his work The Dying Slave and his amazing marble of Moses, to the figures on the famed Sistine Chapel ceiling, all were directly influenced by Laocoön. Michelangelo was far from the only artist to be inspired by this majestic work.

What happens to Laocoön in the Aeneid?

The passage encapsulates the theme of adversity within the Aeneid. It is important to note that Laocoon is slain by serpents of the sea who are creatures of Neptune, the very god he worships every day.

Why do you think Athena killed Laocoön and his two sons?

The Ancient Greek sculpture depicts Laocoön and his Sons being killed by Athena and Poseidon's serpents of the sea with the purpose of empowering the fall of Troy, which he had attempted to prevent with continued warnings thus angering the gods.

What did Laocoon do?

Laocoon was a Trojan priest in Greek mythology, who along with his two sons, was attacked by giant snakes sent by the gods. The phrase "I fear the Greeks even bearing gifts" is attributed to him. As a punishment, the god sent giant snakes that killed his sons and left him alive in order to suffer. ...

Why is the Laocoon so famous?

The sculpture group of Laocoön and His Sons, on display in the Vatican since its rediscovery in 1506 CE, depicts the suffering of the Trojan prince and priest Laocoön (brother of Anchises) and his young sons Antiphantes and Thymbraeus and is one of the most famous and fascinating statues of antiquity.

Where was Laocoon found?

The ancient sculpture known as the Laocoön (now in the Vatican Museums) is one of the most famous antiquities in existence. It was unearthed in 1506 in a vineyard planted over the ruins of Emperor Nero's Golden House in Rome.

Was the Trojan War real?

For most ancient Greeks, indeed, the Trojan War was much more than a myth. It was an epoch-defining moment in their distant past. As the historical sources – Herodotus and Eratosthenes – show, it was generally assumed to have been a real event.

What is the tragedy of Laocoon?

Laocoon was the tragic priest of Poseidon who was killed along with his sons while trying to warn the Trojans about the Greeks hidden inside the great wooden horse left by the, supposedly, retreating army. He is not mentioned at all by Homer but is in Virgil's epic the Aeneid.

How was Laocoon killed in the myth?

Laocoon in Greek mythology, a Trojan priest who, with his two sons, was crushed to death by two great sea serpents as a penalty for warning the Trojans against the Trojan Horse.

Who warned the Trojans about the Wooden Horse?

While questioning Sinon, the Trojan priest Laocoön guesses the plot and warns the Trojans, in Virgil's famous line Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes ("I fear Greeks, even those bearing gifts"), Danai (acc Danaos) or Danaans (Homer's name for the Greeks) being the ones who had built the Trojan Horse.

Who are the members of the Aeneas immediate family?

Virgil's Aeneid

The Aeneads included Aeneas's trumpeter Misenus, his father Anchises, his friends Achates, Sergestus, and Acmon, the healer Iapyx, the helmsman Palinurus, and his son Ascanius (also known as Iulus, Julus, or Ascanius Julius).

What happened to Helen after Troy fell?

Menelaus and Helen then returned to Sparta, where they lived happily until their deaths. ... According to a variant of the story, Helen, in widowhood, was driven out by her stepsons and fled to Rhodes, where she was hanged by the Rhodian queen Polyxo in revenge for the death of her husband, Tlepolemus, in the Trojan War.