Laocoon’s Connections

About Laocoon →

Enemy of

• Sinon

  Sinon's false tale about the Trojan Horse directly countered Laocoön's warnings, and Laocoön's subsequent death by the serpents helped the Trojans believe Sinon's deception.

Slain by

• Athena

  In Virgil's Aeneid, Athena sent two sea serpents to kill Laocoön and his sons after he warned the Trojans against accepting the wooden horse.

Associated with

• Aeneas

  In Virgil's Aeneid, Laocoön's death by the serpents is witnessed by Aeneas, who recounts it as the event that convinced the Trojans to bring the Horse inside the walls.

• Trojan Horse

  Laocoön hurled his spear into the Trojan Horse's flank, warning the Trojans not to bring it inside the city walls.

• Trojan War

  Laocoön's death during the final hours of the Trojan War served as the decisive omen that convinced the Trojans to accept the Wooden Horse.