It had been the subject of a tragedy, now lost, by Sophocles and was mentioned by other Greek writers, though the events around the attack by the serpents vary considerably. The story of Laocoön, a Trojan priest, came from the Greek Epic Cycle on the Trojan Wars, though it is not mentioned by Homer. 15, with Laocoön's extended arm the sons' restored arms were removed in the 1980s. Various dates have been suggested for the statue, ranging from about 200 BC to the 70s AD, though "a Julio-Claudian date. In either case, it was probably commissioned for the home of a wealthy Roman, possibly of the Imperial family. Others see it as probably an original work of the later period, continuing to use the Pergamene style of some two centuries earlier. The view that it is an original work of the 2nd century BC now has few if any supporters, although many still see it as a copy of such a work made in the early Imperial period, probably of a bronze original. In style it is considered "one of the finest examples of the Hellenistic baroque" and certainly in the Greek tradition, but it is not known whether it is an original work or a copy of an earlier sculpture, probably in bronze, or made for a Greek or Roman commission. Pliny attributes the work, then in the palace of Emperor Titus, to three Greek sculptors from the island of Rhodes: Agesander, Athenodoros and Polydorus, but does not give a date or patron. Guillaume-Benjamin Duchenne pointed out to Charles Darwin that Laocoön's bulging eyebrows are physiologically impossible), which are matched by the struggling bodies, especially that of Laocoön himself, with every part of his body straining. The suffering is shown through the contorted expressions of the faces (Dr. The group has been called "the prototypical icon of human agony" in Western art, and unlike the agony often depicted in Christian art showing the Passion of Jesus and martyrs, this suffering has no redemptive power or reward. The figures are near life-size and the group is a little over 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in height, showing the Trojan priest Laocoön and his sons Antiphantes and Thymbraeus being attacked by sea serpents. It is very likely the same statue that was praised in the highest terms by the main Roman writer on art, Pliny the Elder. The statue of Laocoön and His Sons, also called the Laocoön Group ( Italian: Gruppo del Laocoonte), has been one of the most famous ancient sculptures ever since it was excavated in Rome in 1506 and placed on public display in the Vatican Museums, where it remains. Religion and Literature sponsors and publishes the annual Religion and Literature lecture at the University of Notre Dame, hosts special issues with guest editors, and publishes forum sections dedicated to key topics and issues in religion and literature, broadly construed.įor more information visit our website at. Abrams, Daniel Boyarin, Gerald Bruns, Lawrence Buell, Kenneth Burke, Donald Davie, Robert Detweiler, Denis Donoghue, Terry Eagleton, Caryl Emerson, René Girard, Geoffrey Hartman, Stanley Hauerwas, Peter Hawkins, David Jasper, John Milbank, Walter Ong, S.J., Alicia Ostriker, Barbara Packer, Chaim Potok, Stephen Prickett, Annemarie Schimmel, Regina Schwartz, and Nathan A. Religion and Literature is a scholarly journal that provides a forum for discussion of the relations between two crucial human concerns: the religious impulse and the literary forms of any era, place, or language.įirst published in 1984, the journal has featured articles by distinguished scholars including M.H.
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