in fabulous history, a son of Priam and Hecuba, or, according to others, of Antenor or of Capys. Being priest of Apollo, he was commissioned by the Trojans to offer a bullock to Neptune, in order to render him propitious. During the sacrifice two enormous serpents issued from the sea, and attacked Laocoon's two sons who stood next to the altar. The father immediately attempted to defend his sons; but the serpents falling upon him, squeezed him in their complicated coils, and he died in the greatest agony. This punishment was said to have been inflicted upon him for dissuading the Trojans from bringing into the city the fatal wooden horse which the Greeks had consecrated to Minerva, as also for his impiety in hurling a javelin against the sides of the horse as it entered within the walls. According to Hyginus, he suffered this punishment for his marriage against the consent of Apollo, or, according to others, for his polluting the temple, by his commerce with his wife Antiope before the statue of the god.

the history of the arts, is a celebrated monument of Greek sculpture, executed in marble by Agesander, Polydorus, and Athenodorus, the three famous artists of Rhodes. Agesander is supposed to have been the father of the two latter. This remain of antiquity was found at Rome in the ruins of the palace of Titus, in the beginning of the sixteenth century, under the pontificate of Julius II. and afterwards deposited in the Farnese Palace. Laocoon, the priest of Apollo and Neptune, is here represented, along with his two sons, with two hideous serpents clinging round his body, gnawing it, and injecting their poison. This statue exhibits the most astonishing dignity and tranquillity of mind in the midst of the most excruciating torments. Pliny says of it, that it is Opus omnibus pictoribus ex statuariorum artis, praefundendum.

LAODICEA on the Lycus, in Ancient Geography, a town of Phrygia, at first called Diospolis, then Rhoas. It was built by Antiochus, son of Stratonice, and called after his consort Laodice.

Laodicea on the Sea, in Ancient Geography, according to Strabo, was a town of Seleucis in Syria; extremely well built, with a commodious harbour. The country about it yielded great quantities of wine. The city took its name from Laodice, mother of Seleucus, the founder of it.