What Is The Difference Between Laocoon And His Sons

In the religion and mythology of ancient Greece, Poseidon was the god of the sea and of water in general. Unpredictable and often violent, he frequently represented the destructive power of the sea and was also the god of earthquakes. He was closely associated with horses as well. In art, Poseidon was typically shown as a bearded man carrying a trident (a three-pronged fishing spear) and accompanied by a dolphin or a tuna. He traveled over the sea in a chariot pulled by creatures that had the heads and bodies of horses and the tails of fish.

When I look at the vase of Achilles dragging Hector’s body, I find it fascinating how many images and ideas are created by a small piece of art. As you look closely at the vase, I notice about six people drawn. The main character on the vase, where the vase focuses the attention on is Hector. The two chariot riders are dragging Hector in the dirt behind the chariot. This image represents the book closely because in the end of book twenty-two in the Iliad, Achilles had gruesomely killed Hector, after Hector begged for mercy.

Troy’s greatest warrior was Lord Hector, the son of the king and queen living alongside his wife Andromache and his newborn son Astyanax

In Homer's epic, The Iliad, there are many great characters, both mortal and immortal. However, no characters seem to match the greatness and importance of Achilles, the mightiest of the Greeks and Hector, Trojan prince and mightiest of the Trojans. Although they are the mightiest of their forces, their attitudes and motives for the Greek-Trojan war are completely different.

The narratives and stories in ancient Greek artifacts revolved primarily around Greek Mythology. This is epitomized in relief sculptures on the Treasury of the Siphnians and the Great Altar at Pergamon, which depict the Battle of the Gods or Titanomachy from Greek mythology. Real life events were also portrayed although often embellished in myth. For instance, the vase created by Exekias and the sculpture of Laocoon and his sons both depict mythologized elements from the Trojan War. Eventually the Greeks turned away from the heroic to the everyday. For example, the floor mosaic of Alexander the Great confronting Darius II at the battle of Issos tells the narrative of an actual historical event.

To kill the Lernaian Hydra. Hera sent a monster who breathed fire, has a lion’s head and body covered in snakes who resided near Lerna, to Hercules to scare him. Hercules went to battle with the monster while a crab injured his foot plus every time he got a snake head, two more grew exactly where the other one came off. His trusty nephew Lolaos burnt the places where the heads grew. Hercules defeated he Hydra and in victory, “dipped his arrows in its poisonous blood.”

Laocoon and His Sons is a marble sculpture representing a scene that is a part of the tale of the siege and invasion of Troy. Laocoon was the protagonist in a play by Sophocles that is now lost. He was also written about by Virgil. The statue itself is one of the most famous sculptures of Greek and Roman antiquity, its subject is Laocoön, a Trojan high priest, who, along with his two sons, is – according to legend - attacked and killed by two snakes, or sea serpents. The tale is known as myth, but its content may have symbolic roots in actual

The idea of kleos otherwise known as glory in Greek, and honor is one of the most essential motifs of the Iliad. For many warriors depicted in the Iliad, honor was vital and personal. For many, Glory earned in battle was more important than one’s life. Glory or the lack of, was remembered long after one’s life. Possibly the greatest fundamental part of honor to the fighters of the Iliad was courage in battle as shown throughout multiple books. Throughout the course of this book we can see how different characters display these traits and how they influence the course of the war. Even though the Achaeans and Trojans are enemies they display a similar view, the acquisition of glory is more significant than life

As long as there is thought there will always be debate as to the relevance and applications of any figure that has potential symbolism deeper than its appearance. We see it with the Bible, with its accompanying fundamentalism, literalism, interpretationalism, and its downright detractors. Attention given to an object for such a prolonged time is bound to foster battleground for linguists, philosophers, and literary scholars. Additionally, we see it with the Shield of Achilles in Homer's The Iliad. The Shield is a literary figure of beauty which the world has enjoyed, despised, and revered for several millennia. Its lengthy and detailed description forces any reader to, if not look past it for higher meaning, at least imagine and

Hector is revered and looked up to by his people, and his status as Prince bolsters this. The Trojan’s admiration in his bravery is what keeps him fighting, knowingly putting himself in great danger and in the hands of death.

Homer’s epic The Iliad, is a great tale of war and glory. It takes place during the last year of the ten year Greek-Trojan war. The Greeks have been fighting with the Trojans for quite some time, and just when peace seemed like a possibility, the youngest prince of Troy, Paris, acts out selfishly and steals the beautiful wife of Menelaus, Helen. This instigates the fighting again. Throughout The Iliad, Homer tells of two heroes, both similar, but also very different in their character; the great and powerful Greek, Achilles, and the strong, loving father, Prince Hector of Troy. In Homer’s The Iliad, Hector and Achilles differ as heroes in regards to pride, duty, and family love, the latter being self-centered and prideful, while the

Meanwhile, Hector was often pictured as a strong, valiant man who also had a gentler side, unlike Achilles. Even when facing attacking armies, Hector fought to protect his family from the invading forces and for the survival of his city. It should be noted that before Hector faced the tragedies of the upcoming Trojan War, he blessed his only son and asked Zeus, the god of all gods, to grant his son to be like him, the “first in glory among the Trojans” (340). Though Hector was a better man in a moral sense when compared to Achilles, he still had some flaws. While attempting to eliminate Achilles, Hector mistakenly killed one of Achilles’ closest men, Patroclus, who happened to be wearing Achilles’ armor. After Patroclus’ death, Hector, under the belief that he had defeated the great Achilles, removed the armor from the corpse and wore it, which defiled the warrior’s respect and honor. Also, in “Book 22” of the Iliad, Hector tainted his honor during the arrival of Achilles by leaving “the gates [of Troy] behind and [fleeing] in fear” (347). Even though he fled Achilles, Hector knew that in order to save his people, he must face the great runner, and he did so for Troy. Unfortunately for Hector, he was facing certain death. When Hector took his final stand, Achilles, with Athena’s assistance, dealt the final blow that killed the great Hector. Due to the infinite outrage of the death of Patroclus’ death still dwelling inside of him, Achilles refused to return

But in 1905 the archeologist, Ludwig Pollack, discovered the original right arm of Laocoön and it was reconstructed in 1957-60 (“The Vatican” 185). The style of this sculpture is immediately classified as Hellenistic, because of the motion on the bodies of Laocoön and his sons. The agony on their faces portrays the anguish they were feeling at the time of their death, and the bulging muscles, and veins stick out as they try to free themselves of the snakes. The legend says that Laocoön was a Trojan priest of Apollo. The Greeks who had been trying to sack the city of Troy for years were unsuccessful, and devised a new plan. They created the Trojan horse to offer the city of Troy as a promise to stop the fighting. Laocoön saw that this was a trap and tried to warn his fellow Trojans of the danger. When he approached the alter of Poseidon to pray, the Gods Athena and Poseidon depending on which version you read, favored the Greeks and decided to punish Laocoön for his treachery by sending two giant snakes to kill him and his sons. However, there was one Trojan who heeded the warning, his name was Aeneas. Aeneas, fled Troy and this eventually led to the founding of Rome (“Musei Vaticani – sito ufficiale”). There are a lot of different theories just on this one story. I have seen that the snakes were sent by Athena, Poseidon, and even Apollo. There is also debate on whether the Trojan horse was a gift to the city of Troy or an offering to the gods.

In the Iliad is a very interesting epic with features two main central characters that are similar in some ways but totally different in other ways. In this epic you will be introduced to Hector and Achilles. Two men from each side in the great Trojan-Greek war. They were both heroes to their people despite their clearly different contrast in their personalities. In this paper I will highlight the life of both of these two leaders of the Greek and Trojans in this epic the Iliad. Also a little will be shed of how Homer portrays the characters deeper then an average thought. I will attempt to show the complexity of his thought process in forming the climax of these two characters coming to battle.

For the ancient Greeks, culture is of the utmost importance. Greek family values are so strong that elements of tradition and culture transcend many generations. One particular tradition, literature, is a custom that has been passed down from generation to generation. Thousands of families, from their parents to their children, are told the stories of men and women who grew up and became great warriors that saved the world. These children later grew up with the goal of becoming those same heroes; they grew up wanting to save the world just like the characters in the stories. In this particular epic, we encounter the characters of Achilles and Hector, both ideal warriors; one uses his physical aptitude, the other his intellect and desire to