Laocoon
Trojan priest of Apollo who warned against the wooden horse and was killed with his sons by sea serpents.
The Legend of Laocoon
He threw a spear at the horse and said the most famous warning in literature — then the gods killed him to ensure no one listened. Laocoon struck the wooden horse with a spear and declared: "I fear Greeks even bearing gifts" (Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes). As if in divine punishment, two sea serpents emerged from the sea and crushed Laocoon and his two sons. The Trojans took this as proof that the horse was sacred and Laocoon was punished for attacking it. The opposite was true. Athena or Poseidon sent the serpents to silence the one man who saw through the deception. The Laocoon sculpture group (Vatican Museums) depicting the death scene is considered one of the greatest works of ancient art.
Parents
Acoetes
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Laocoon sculpture (c. 40-30 BC) was called the greatest work of art ever by Pliny the Elder.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Laocoon
🗡 heroTrojan priest who warned against the horse
Laocoon was the Trojan priest who tried to warn Troy about the Wooden Horse — "I fear Greeks even bearing gifts" — and was killed by sea serpents sent by the gods.
Perseus
🗡 heroHero who slew Medusa
The son of Zeus and Danae who beheaded Medusa, rescued Andromeda, and founded the Perseid dynasty of Mycenae.
Amphiaraus
🗡 heroThe prophet who foresaw his own death at Thebes
A warrior-prophet who knew the Seven Against Thebes would fail but marched to his death anyway, swallowed by the earth.
Xanthus
🐉 creatureSpeed, prophecy
Immortal horse of Achilles gifted with speech who prophesied his master's death at Troy
Bellerophon
🗡 heroThe hero who tamed Pegasus
The Corinthian hero who tamed the winged horse Pegasus and slew the Chimera, but fell from heaven when he tried to reach Olympus.
Aepytus
🗡 heroKingship, Arcadia
Arcadian king who was killed by a serpent while attempting to enter the forbidden sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi
Cepheus
🗡 heroNone recorded
King of Aethiopia who nearly sacrificed his daughter Andromeda to a sea monster
Trojan Cetus
🐉 creaturesea monsters
A sea monster sent by Poseidon to ravage Troy, fought by Heracles in exchange for divine horses
Menoeceus
🗡 herosacrifice, prophecy
A young Theban nobleman who sacrificed himself by leaping from the city walls to fulfil Tiresias's prophecy that only royal blood could save Thebes from the Seven.
Bellerophon
🗡 heroTamer of Pegasus, slayer of the Chimera
The hero who tamed the winged horse Pegasus and used him to slay the monstrous Chimera. His story is a cautionary tale about hubris.
Rhesus
🗡 herofate
Thracian king who brought white horses to Troy and was killed in his sleep by Odysseus and Diomedes on his first night.
Oedipus
🗡 heroKing who fulfilled the prophecy of killing his father and marrying his mother
The tragic king of Thebes who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother, fulfilling a prophecy he had spent his life trying to avoid.