LAOCOON

Pronunciation:		ley'âkow`ân
WordNet Dictionary

	Definition:	[n] (Greek mythology) the priest of Apollo who warned the Trojans to beware of Greeks bearing gifts when they wanted to accept the Trojan Horse; a god who favored the Greeks (Poseidon or Athena) sent snakes who coiled around Laocoon and his two twin sons killing them

	See Also:	mythical being

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

	Definition:	\Laoc"o["o]n\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ? ] 1. (Class. Myth.) A priest of Apollo, during the Trojan war. (See 2.) 2. (Sculp.) A marble group in the Vatican at Rome, representing the priest Laoco["o]n, with his sons, infolded in the coils of two serpents, as described by Virgil.