The Laocoon Group
A History of the Artwork
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Volume XXXI Issue 3
This edition of Old Voices speaks to the history and interpretation of the Laocoon Group, presented in the article “A Case Study for the Laocoon: The Integration of the Arts and Humanities” by Karen T. Moore.
I. The Laocoon Group, the History of the Artwork
Thereafter there are not many sculptors of high reputation in the case of excellent works, because the number of artists engaged is an obstacle for the fame of each individual, since neither does one take all the glory nor are the many named able to share that glory equally.2 Such is the case of the Laocoon, which is in the home of the emperor Titus, a work that must stand out above all other works, both paintings and sculptures. The supreme artisans Agesander and Polydorus and Athenodorus of Rhodes, according to the decision of the council, made him and his sons and the marvelous coils of the sea serpents out of one stone.
(Pliny, Historia Naturalis 36.37)2
II. Laocoon Attacks the Trojan Horse
Then from the citadel, conspicuous,
Laocoon, with all his following choir,
hurried indignant down; and from afar
thus hailed the people: “O unhappy men!
What madness this? Who deems our foemen fled?
Think ye the gifts of Greece lack for guile?3
Have ye not known Ulysses?4 The Achaean
hides, caged in yonder beams; or this is reared
for engin’ry on our proud battlements,
to spy upon our roof-tops, or descend
in ruin on the city. ‘Tis a snare.
Trust not this horse, O Troy, whate’er it bode!
I fear the Greeks, though gift on gift they bear.”
So saying, he whirled with ponderous javelin
a sturdy stroke straight at the rounded side
of the great, jointed beast. A tremor struck
its towering form, and through the cavernous womb
rolled loud, reverberate rumbling, deep and long.5
If heaven’s decree, if our own wills, that hour,
had not been fixed on woe, his spear had brought
a bloody slaughter on our ambushed foe,
and Troy were standing on the earth this day!6
O Priam’s towers, ye were unfallen still!7
(Aeneid 2.40-56)8
III. Laocoon’s Death according to Vergil
But now a vaster spectacle of fear
burst over us, to vex our startled souls.
Laocoon, that day by cast of lot
priest unto Neptune, was in act to slay
a huge bull at the god’s appointed fane.9
Lo! o’er the tranquil deep from Tenedos
appeared a pair (I shudder as I tell)
of vastly coiling serpents, side by side,
stretching along the waves, and to the shore
taking swift course;10 their necks were lifted high,
their gory dragon-crests o’ertopped the waves;
all else, half seen, trailed low along the sea;
while with loud cleavage of the foaming brine
their monstrous backs wound forward fold on fold.11
Soon they made land; the furious bright eyes
glowed with ensanguined fire;12 their quivering tongues
lapped hungrily the hissing, gruesome jaws.
All terror-pale we fled. Unswerving then
the monsters to Laocoon made way.
First round the tender limbs of his two sons
each dragon coiled, and on the shrinking flesh
fixed fast and fed. Then seized they on the sire,
who flew to aid, a javelin in his hand,13
embracing close in bondage serpentine
tw’ice round the waist; and twice in scaly grasp
around his neck, and o’er him grimly peered
with lifted head and crest; he, all the while,
his holy fillet fouled with venomous blood,
tore at his fetters with a desperate hand,
and lifted up such agonizing voice,
as when a bull, death-wounded, seeks to flee
the sacrificial altar, and thrusts back
from his doomed head the ill-aimed, glancing blade.14
then swiftly writhed the dragon-pair away
unto the templed height, and in the shrine
of cruel Pallas sure asylum found
beneath the goddess’ feet and orbed shield.15
Such trembling horror as we ne’er had known
seized now on every heart. “Of his vast guilt
Laocoon,” they say, “receives reward;
for he with most abominable spear
did strike and violate that blessed wood.16
Yon statue to the temple! Ask the grace
of glorious Pallas!” So the people cried
in general acclaim.
(Aeneid 2.199-233)
IV. The Literary Tastes of Tiberius
Tiberius composed Greek poetry in imitation of Euphorion, Rhianos and Parthenios, delighted by these poets, he dedicated the writings and portraits of all these in the public libraries among the ancient eminent writers;17 and for this reason, many academics established competitions with one another in these works for him. However, Tiberius especially took note of a knowledge of mythology, all the way to the laughable and ridiculous; for he used to assess the grammatici (a class of men in whom, as we have said previously, he was especially interested),18 by questions of nearly such a kind as: “Who was Hecuba’s mother? What was Achilles’ name among the maidens? What were the Sirens accustomed to sing?”
(Suetonius, Tiberius 70)19
V. Laocoon’s Death according to Euphorion
As Euphorion says, after the arrival of the Greeks the priest of Neptune was stoned to death, because he did not prevent their arrival through his sacrifices.20 After the Greeks departed, when the Trojans wished to sacrifice to Neptune, Laocoon, a priest of Thymbraean Apollo, was chosen by lot [to make the sacrifices to Neptune], as was customary when there was not a fixed priest.21 Laocoon had previously committed a sinful crime, engaging in sexual intercourse with his wife Antiopa before the statue of the god Apollo, and on account of this the snakes, dispatched by the gods, killed him with his sons. History indeed bears this account: but the poet Vergil interprets this event in the manner of an excuse for the Trojans, who not knowing [Laocoon’s prior sin] were deceived [as to his punishment].
(Servius, Commentarius in Vergilii Aeneida 2.201)
VI. The Perfidy of Laomedon
. . . Apollo left Timolus borne
Through fluid air until he came to earth
In the land that Laomedon was ruler of,
On this side of the narrow Hellespont.
Sigeum on the right, Rhodes on the left:
Between them on a promontory stands
An ancient altar, consecrated to
The Thunderer, Jove of the Oracles;
And there Apollo watched as Laomedon
Began the walls of his new city, Troy,
An undertaking of great magnitude,
Which was not going well, the god perceived,
And which required very great resources;
So he and Neptune, father of the seas,
Assumed the shape of mortals and erected
Walls there for the tyrant of Phrygia,
After arranging to be paid in gold.
The work was soon accomplished, but the king
Denied the debt, and in addition, swore
(the finishing touch put on his treachery!)
That he had never promised to compensation.22
“You will not get away with this unpunished,”
Neptune said, releasing all his waters
Against the shores of avaricious Troy,
And drenched the land until it seemed a sea,
And overwhelmed the field and ruined the crops.23
(Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.194 – 210)24
Karen T. Moore has served as the Classical Languages Chair at Grace Academy of Georgetown, TX, since 2002. During her years at Grace Academy she has taught Latin, Greek, Ancient Humanities, and assisted with curriculum development. Karen is also the author of several Latin books including the Libellus de Historia series, the Latin Alive series (Classical Academic Press) and Hancus ille Vaccanis (Logos Press). Most recently, she has developed an online course in Classical Art & Archaeology with ClassicalU, which discusses the material in this article among other works of art. Karen is also an adjunct professor in Classics with Houston Christian University and a board member with the ACCS Institute for Classical Languages. Karen holds a B.A. in Classics from the University of Texas at Austin and an MSc with Distinction in Classical Art & Archaeology from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Karen and her husband Bryan are the proud parents of three Grace Academy Alumni. When not reading Latin literature, Karen can be found working in her garden, hiking with her family, or leading her students in adventures across Italy.
Footnotes
1. This section opens with a reference to that which precedes it. There Pliny discusses a number of excellent works and the sculptor who crafted each one. Among these is the Venus of Cnidus (Aphrodite of Knidos) by Praxiteles. Pliny now turns to a discourse on works produced by multiple artisans working together such as the Laocoon.
2. Translation by J. Bostock et al., modified by K.T. Moore.
3. The Latin here reads dolis Danaum (the deceptions of the descendants of Danaus, i.e. Danaans). There are many terms used for the Greek people groups represented in the Trojan War. Here Vergil puts the name of Danaus in Laocoon’s lips. King Danaus ordered his fifty daughters, the Danaids, to murder their husbands on their wedding night. Thus, he is the author of wicked deception and impiety.
4. Ulysses – Vergil plays on the known epithet for crafty Ulysses/Odysseus, a master of deception.
5. Vergil here suggests that the impact of Laocoon’s spear brought forth noise from the soldiers inside. Noise that Aeneas now recalls, but laments their blindness to its meaning.
6. Aeneas claims that the Trojans had been deceived, blinded by fate. Servius’ commentary echoes this theme of deception in writing that Vergil interprets the reception of Laocoon as though the Trojans were deceived as to his impious character and the true reasons for his death. Servius’ text is provided in passage v.
7. O Priam’s towers, ye were unfallen still! – An apostrophe of a different color – this rhetorical device turns the author’s speech suddenly from his audience to address another, usually absent. Here Aeneas ceases to tell a story to Dido, and calls out to his fallen city.
8. Translations for the Aeneid are from T.C. Williams.
9. The Trojans, like the Greeks and the Romans, would cast lots to determine the will of the gods, including whom they chose to act as priest. This also happens in the Jewish culture such as the day on which Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, is chosen by lot to enter the Holy of Holies in order to burn incense (Luke 1:9). Euphorion and Servius suggest it was Apollo who guided this decision in order to exact punishment on Laocoon for his impiety. See passages iv and v. fane = temple or shrine.
10. At the time of this scene the Greek fleet was hiding behind the isle of Tenedos, out of the Trojans’ line of sight. The two snakes foreshadow the two sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaus. These Greek leaders would soon make their own swift course across the waves from Tenedos by night to attack the city of Troy.
11. “with loud cleavage of the foaming brine” – Vergil’s text offers a beautiful mixture of alliteration and onomatopoeia: sonitus spumante salo
12. “the furious bright eyes glowed with ensanguined fire” A nice choice of words by Williams as he interprets Vergil’s description, ardentisque oculos suffecti sanguine et igni (and burning eyes suffused with blood and fire).
13. Note the order of events. Vergil’s lines suggest that the two boys are completely overcome, dead before the snakes attack their father.
14. In the opening lines of this passage Laocoon is in the act of sacrificing a bull upon the altar of Neptune. Now in a tragic twist of irony, Vergil’s simile portrays the priest as a sacrificial animal whose death is not a quick clean blow, but slow and painful.
15. As further proof of their divine mission, the snakes seek shelter under the shield of Pallas Athena or Minerva (Tritonia as Vergil calls her in this line) within her temple at Troy. In lines 615-616 of this same book, Venus will reveal to her son Aeneas the hand of the gods in the fall of Troy, specifically pointing out Tritonia standing on the highest citadel. The Athena Parthenos on display at the Borghese Gallery provides an excellent representation of this line.
16. The Trojans now ascribe impiety as the cause of Laocoon’s death; the impious act of attacking the horse. Euphorion will offer a different impious act via Servius’ commentary in passage v.
17. Euphorion of Chalcis, a highly regarded Greek poet and grammarian (third century B.C.), whose works survive only in part through the record of others such as Servius; Rhianos of Crete, a Greek poet and scholar whose surviving work consists of a few epigrams in the Greek Anthology (third century B.C.); Parthenios of Nicaea, author of elegies and epics whose only surviving work is Erotica Pathemata (Ἐρωτικὰ Παθήματα, Of the Sorrows of Love), (late first century B.C.).
18. Grammatici – This term is often applied to Roman grammarians, philologists and those who instruct their young students in the art of poetic analysis.
19. Translations for Suetonius and Servius are by K.T. Moore.
20. The priest of Neptune (not Laocoon) was unable to appease the god, still bearing a grudge against Troy because her kings had refused to pay him (and
Apollo) for the construction of their impregnable walls (See Ovid 11, passage vi).
21. Laocoon was priest of Apollo. Some art historians claim that traces of the laurel wreath may still be seen about the head of the Laocoon statue. Because the Trojans had executed Neptune’s priest, they cast lots to find someone of a priestly order to sacrifice to Neptune. The divine decree called Laocoon to Neptune’s altar. The implication is that Apollo orchestrated how the lots fell in order to exact his own punishment.
22. Not only did Laomedon refuse payment and deny the debt, but no other king of Troy made atonement for the injury. For this reason, both Neptune and Apollo sided against Troy in the Trojan War.
23. Ovid’s text regarding the impiety of Laomedon continues on to cite another punishment, the surrender of King Laomedon’s daughter and her subsequent rescue by Hercules.
24. Translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses by Charles Martin.