Laocoon

Click the thumbnail below to see the full image.

Odysseus left behind his friend Sinon. He pretended that Odysseus had sought to have him killed for having learned the truth about Palamedes’ death. He managed to escape but was left behind in the process. He convinced Priam that the wooden horse was under the protection of Athena, and any city that received it within its walls could never be taken. That, he claimed, was why the Greeks had made it so large – to prevent the Trojans from bringing it through any of their gates.

Laocoon, a priest of Apollo, argued that the horse boded ill for Troy and must be destroyed. While the Trojans listened to Sinon’s story, a pair of sea serpents, sent by Poseidon, slithered up the shore and seized Laocoon’s sons. The priest tried to rescue them, but all three were devoured. The Trojans saw the death of Laocoon as an omen. He was struck down for his insolence against Athena, and Priam ordered the horse be brought into the city. The walls of Troy were breached to accomplish this incredible task.