A Striking Sculpture of Laocoon

[[Laocoon]]

This cast is of a 1st century AD Roman copy of a Hellenistic original sculpture (geddit? It's a copy of a copy), and it lives in the Cast Gallery in Cambridge.

The older man in the middle is Laocoon, and the two young ones are his children. Here's the story.

Laocoon was a priest. During the Trojan War, towards the end, he saw the Wooden Horse about to be brought in. He warned the Trojans not to accept it, but did they listen?

Of course not.

However, as the gods were supporting the Greeks (who gave this deceptive gift), they sent snakes to kill him and his sons.

This sculpture shows the desperate, futile struggle as Laocoon and his sons attempt to fend off the snake.

What's amazing about this sculpture is the sheer intensity of it. Laocoon's head is tilted back; he looks forlorn, and yet towards the sky, as if to ask, 'Why?'. His sons turn towards their father, who is helpless, and the children themselves are ensnared.

The viewer feels helpless - the snake is so closely entwined with the three bodies that there is nowhere which we can grab onto, and the dynamic pose of the figures tells us we do not have time to run for help.

This is more than a freezeframe- the figures seem to be struggling before our eyes, even though we know they're not real.

The Laocoon group is thus a triumph of both emotion and motion.