RON HENGGELER |
San Francisco. "That City of Gold to which adventurers congregated out of all the winds of heaven. I wonder what enchantment of the 'Arabian Nights' can have equaled this evocation of a roaring city, in a few years of a man's life, from the marshes and the blowing sand.” Robert Louis Stevenson
Oculus and Francisco |
Detail of the Laocoon at the Legion of Honor Laocoön and His Sons This copy of the statue stands outside on the grounds of San Francisco's Laocoön and His Sons One of the major discoveries of the Italian Renaissance, this sculptural grouping was lost for centuries but found in 1506 near Rome, by a farmer plowing a field in the ruins of Titus' palace. It depicts an event in Laocoön in Greek Mythology Laocoön was an intriguing character in Greek mythology. He played a small but significant role in the notorious Trojan War, and his memorable contributions to myth were celebrated in this famous Hellenistic statue. Read on to learn more about this legendary figure. According to ancient authors, Laocoön was a blind Trojan priest of Poseidon (note, however, that some sources claim that he was instead one of Apollo's priests). In mythology, Laocoön was the brother of the hero Anchises and son of Capys. One of our best sources for the story of Laocoön is found in Virgil's Aeneid. In this epic tale, the Roman poet Virgil describes the dramatic scene in which the Trojans discover an enormous Wooden Horse standing outside the city of Troy. The prescient priest Laocoön warns against bringing the gigantic Horse into Troy in a famous speech: "'O my poor people, Immediately after saying these words, Virgil has Laocoön hurl his spear into the flank of the Wooden Horse. However, this gesture was to come back to haunt Laocoön. For soon after this incident, while the priest is sacrificing to his god Poseidon, a pair of giant sea serpents emerge from the sea and envelope both Laocoön and his two sons (this tragic scene is immortalized in the Hellenistic image). The Trojans interpret this grotesque punishment as a sign that Laocoön offended the gods - either Athena or Poseidon in particular - for attacking the Wooden Horse. In the end, the Horse is brought into Troy, which is a fatal mistake and seals the city's doom. |
Sutro Tower seen from Twin Peaks |
The view of San Francisco from Twin Peaks |
The view with a 300mm lens of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge from Twin Peaks |
San Francisco's Market Street seen from Twin Peaks with a 300mm lens |
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