I will start this blog with a strong statement: Laocoon did not deserve to die. Laocoon suffered a rather brutal death for simply trying to help his people. Unfortunately, as is the way of the world, people ignored Laocoon's warnings, and he was brutally killed.
Starting with lines 45-49 (aut hoc...dona ferentis) we can see that Laocoon is skeptical. And frankly, he should not be the only one. In line 49 he states that he "fears the Greeks, even bearing gifts." No one listens to Laocoon, no one tries to see if maybe he could be right. Then, in line 50 (sic factus...) Laocoon hurls his spear into horse. Now, most people assume since nothing happened, then they are safe. No one (except for Laocoon) thought that maybe, just maybe, the spear just hit the wrong spot OR that maybe something happened that no one could see or hear. No, thinking that your enemies concealing an attack with a gift would just be unreasonable. How typical....
Anyways, then Laocoon tries to further save his people with a sacrafice (lines 199-202; Hic aliud...ad aras). How noble! His people don't believe him and he still tries to protect them. To me, this is a pure sign of pietas. And wasn't that what the Romans admired in a person? That duty, that loyalty to the people no matter what happens. Well, in this case, pietas either did not matter, or people simply did not care.
Either way, Laocoon did not deserve the brutal, bloody and painful death that is described in the following lines. He was trying to help, trying to keep a level head while everyone around him was having some moment of either faith in the world or insanity (I believe that both feelings could lead to the same result). He kept his head on his shoulders and tried to really think through the situation and keep his people safe. Our attempts at helping others do not always work out for the best, but does that mean that we shouldn't be given any credit for trying?
