Laocoon’s Children and the Limits of Representation Essay...

In modern society, both the abstract and concrete representations of children are intertwined with the themes associated with happiness, innocence, ignorance, gullibility, and the allure of youth. But, if I may for a moment mimic Caroline Vout’s presentation of her arguments by asking, how does today’s current view of children differ from the non-linguistic representations of children in ancient times? If one was to rewind time while focusing solely on the exemplification of children in ancient Greek and Rome, they would discover that presumably there is a degradation of the importance of the child in society. The previously mentioned Caroline Vout supplies the fact that the great philosopher Aristotle believed that â€Å"[children were]†¦show more content†¦With respect to the first sub-category that is listed, the sculpture of the struggle of Laocoon and his Sons is used to underscore the ideals connected with children. It is in the sculpture that we se e Laocoon’s son’s depicted as â€Å"man-children†; for their muscled bodies, short hair, and matured faces give the impression that they are more adult than youth. However, their innocence and age is reflected in their marginal positions and their diminutive sizes when contrasted to their father. To emphasize the multiple versions of children, Vout incorporates the sculpture Hercules Strangling Snakes, which associates children with strength and the reverse of that sculpture, Statuette of a Seated Girl, expresses the innocence and youth found in children. Concerning the interaction of the viewer with the role of children in Hellenistic art, Vout emphasizes that the significant presence of a child in pieces like, Laocoon and his Sons, are important because they encourage viewers to connect with the masterpiece in a different way. Now, staying within that realm of thinking, one is directed to the question: How central are the representations of Laocoon’ s children to the melodramatic composition? This question may be answered if one examines the impact of their inclusion and then infer the impact of their hypothetical exclusion. Pertaining to the inclusion of Laocoon’s children in the artwork as a