Laocoon Group

This sculpture from second century B.C. Greece, entitled Laocoon Group, involves one of the most famous events in Greek Mythology, and clearly represents the artistic ideas of the period known as Ancient World Art. In the last year of the Trojan War, the Greeks devised a strategy to overrun the city of Troy. They constructed a giant wooden horse, hid a large number of Greek soldiers inside it, and brought it to the gates of Troy as an offering to the goddess of Athena. Laocoon, a priest of the sun-god Apollo, suspected a trick and tried to convince the Trojans to keep the gate locked. Laocoon's warnings angered the sea-god Poseidon, who disliked the Trojans. Poseidon sent two serpents to strangle Laocoon and his sons entwined by Poseidon's deadly serpents.

This work is a typical example of how religion formed the period of art that we now recognize as the Ancient World. Religious ideas of mythology and the godly powers of nature's many elements clearly dictated this period in artistic development.

This image comes from the Vatican Museum; used with permission.

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