Laocoön and His Sons
Laocoön was killed by divine execution from the gods, who supported the Greeks in the Trojan War and sent the sea serpents as punishment. Laocoön's death is the subject of a famous monumental Hellenistic sculpture, known as "Laocoön and His Sons". The 1st-century BCE marble sculpture was created by Athenadoros, Agesander, and Polydoros of Rhodes. The Laocoön group captures a climactic moment, as Laocoön lets out an anguished yell and struggles beside his sons against Athena's sea serpents. Unearthed in Rome in 1506, the sculpture enamored Renaissance artists with its idealized proportions and graceful, muscular figures. "Laocoön and his Sons" most likely served as artistic inspiration for El Greco, who would depict the subject during his "Spanish Period".