What does the sculpture of Laocoön and His Sons depict?
It is a marble copy of a bronze sculpture, which – according to the Roman writer Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE) – depicted the Trojan priest Laocoon and his two sons Antiphas and Thymbraeus being killed by giant snakes, as described by the Roman poet Virgil (70 BCE – 19 CE) in his epic poem the Aeneid.
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.
What is Laocoön and His Sons made of?
White marbleLaocoön and His Sons / Medium
What Hellenistic era concept is conveyed in the sculpture Laocoön?
Classical Sculpture Laocoön was killed by divine execution from the gods, who supported the Greeks in the Trojan War and sent the sea serpents as punishment. Laocoön’s death is the subject of a famous monumental Hellenistic sculpture, known as Laocoön and His Sons.
What happened to Laocoön and His Sons?
Thus, while preparing to sacrifice a bull on the altar of the god Poseidon (a task that had fallen to him by lot), Laocoön and his twin sons, Antiphas and Thymbraeus (also called Melanthus), were crushed to death by two great sea serpents, Porces and Chariboea (or Curissia or Periboea), sent by Apollo.
What is the meaning of Laocoön?
Definition of Laocoön : a Trojan priest killed with his sons by two sea serpents after warning the Trojans against the wooden horse.
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).
When was Laocoön and His Sons created?
50 BCLaocoön and His Sons / Created
What is the importance of Laocoön and His Sons?
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. In Sophocles, on the other hand, he was a priest of Apollo, who should have been celibate but had married.
Who made the Laocoön and His Sons sculpture?
Agesander of Rhodes
PolydorosAthanadorosAthenodoros of RhodesPolydorus of Rhodes
Laocoön and His Sons/Artists
When was Laocoön and His Sons sculpted?
Was Laocoön a real person?
Read on to learn about his tragic life and death. Laocoon was a Trojan priest and seer of the god Poseidon whose tragic story was famously immortalized in the statue known as Laocoon and his Sons currently held at the Vatican Museums’ collection.