What was the Colossus of Rhodes? - Ask History Ask History September 25, 2015 By Elizabeth Nix Credit: by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images Share this: What was the Colossus of Rhodes? Author What was the Colossus of Rhodes? URL Google One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Colossus of Rhodes was a massive statue of a male figure built around 280 B.C. and erected on the Greek island of Rhodes. Much about the monument remains shrouded in mystery, as it was destroyed in an earthquake in 226 B.C. However, ancient accounts hold that the Colossus of Rhodes was created in honor of the sun god Helios and to commemorate the Rhodians’ successful defense of their island against a siege led by Macedonian leader Demetrius Poliorcetes in 305 B.C. Legend has it the people of Rhodes sold the equipment left behind by the Macedonians in order to bankroll the statue’s creation. Designed by Greek sculptor Chares of Lindos, the Colossus of Rhodes reportedly stood about 110 feet tall atop a 50-foot platform.

By comparison, the Great Pyramid of Giza, the only ancient world wonder that still survives, initially rose about 481 feet when it was completed, likely sometime between 2560 B.C. and 2540 B.C. Another ancient world wonder, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, produced in the mid-fifth century B.C., was about 40 feet tall. Today, the world’s tallest statues include China’s Spring Temple Buddha, which stands 354 feet atop a 66-foot-high lotus throne (that itself sits on an 82-foot-tall building), and Burma’s Laykyun Setkyar Buddha, which is 381 feet high with a 44-foot-tall base; both structures were completed in the early 21st century. In 2008, government officials in Rhodes announced plans were in “the drawing board stage” for a new Colossus; rather than being a replica, it’s intended to take shape as the planet’s largest light sculpture.

Tags The Seven Wonders: The Colossus of Rhodes Requires javascript The Colossus of Rhodes Historians believe the Colossus of Rhodes stood at the harbor entrance of the ancient port city. (Copyright LeeKrystek, 2011) Travelers to the New York City harbor see a marvelous sight. Standing on a small island in the harbor is an immense statue of a robed woman, holding a book and lifting a torch to the sky. The statue measures almost one-hundred and twenty feet from foot to crown. It is sometimes referred to as the "Modern Colossus," but more often called the Statue of Liberty. This awe-inspiring statue was a gift from France to America and is easily recognized by people around the world. What many visitors to this shrine to freedom don't know is that the statue, the "Modern Colossus," is the echo of another statue, the original colossus, that stood over two thousand years ago at the entrance to another busy harbor on the Island of Rhodes. Like the Statue of Liberty, this colossus was also built as a celebration of freedom.

This amazing statue, standing the same height from toe to head as the modern colossus, was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World . The Island of Rhodes The island of Rhodes was an important economic center in the ancient world. It is located off the southwestern tip of Asia Minor where the Aegean Sea meets the Mediterranean. The capitol city, also named Rhodes, was built in 408 B.C. and was designed to take advantage of the island's best natural harbor on the northern coast. Seven Quick Facts Destroyed: 226 BC by an earthquake Size: Height without 50 foot pedestal was 110 ft. (30m) Made of: Bronze plates attached to iron framework Other: Made in the shape of the island's patron god Helios In 357 B.C. the island was conquered by Mausolus of Halicarnassus (whose tomb is one of the other Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) but fell into Persian hands in 340 BC and was finally captured by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. When Alexander died of a fever at an early age, his generals fought bitterly among themselves for control of Alexander's vast kingdom.

Three of them, Ptolemy, Seleucus, and Antigous, succeeded in dividing the kingdom among themselves. The Rhodians supported Ptolemy (who wound up ruling Egypt) in this struggle. This angered Antigous who in 305 BC sent his son Demetrius to capture and punish the city of Rhodes. The War with Demetrius The war was long and painful. Demetrius brought an army of 40,000 men. This was more than the entire population of Rhodes. He also augmented his force by using Aegean pirates. An engraving by Martin Heemskerck in 16th-century helped to establish the inaccurate harbor spanning pose in people's minds. The city was protected by a strong, tall wall and the attackers were forced to use siege towers to try and climb over it. Siege towers were wooden structures that could be moved up to a defender's walls to allow the attackers to climb over them. While some were designed to be rolled up on land, Demetrius used a giant tower mounted on top of six ships lashed together to make his attack.

This tower, though, was turned over and smashed when a storm suddenly approached, causing the battle to be won by the Rhodians. Demetrius had a second super tower built and called it the Helepolis which translates to "Taker of Cities." This massive structure stood almost 150 feet high and some 75 feet square at the base and weight 160 tons. It was equipped with many catapults and skinned with wood and leather to protect the troops inside from archers. It even carried water tanks that could be used to fight fires started by flaming arrows. This tower was mounted on iron wheels and it could be rolled up to the walls under the power of 200 soldiers turning a large capstan. When Demetrius attacked the city, the defenders stopped the war machine by flooding a ditch outside the walls and miring the heavy monster in the mud. By then almost a year had gone by and a fleet of ships from Egypt arrived to assist Rhodes. Demetrius withdrew quickly, leaving the great siege tower where it was. He signed a peace treaty and called his siege a victory as Rhodes agreed to remain neutral in his war against Ptolemy.

Statue Commemorates Victory Another artist's conception of the statue with a slightly different pose (Copyright Lee Krystek, 1998 ) The people of Rhodes saw the end of conflict differently, however. To celebrate their victory and freedom, the people of Rhodes decided to build a giant statue of their patron god Helios. They melted down bronze from the many war machines Demetrius left behind for the exterior of the figure and the super siege tower became the scaffolding for the project. Although some reportedly place the start of construction as early as 304 BC it is more likely the work started in 292 BC. According to Pliny, a historian who lived several centuries after the Colossus was built, construction took 12 years. The statue was one hundred and ten feet high and stood upon a fifty-foot pedestal near the harbor entrance perhaps on a breakwater. Although the statue has sometimes been popularly depicted with its legs spanning the harbor entrance so that ships could pass beneath, it was actually posed in a more traditional Greek manner. Historians believe the figure was nude or semi-nude with a cloak over its left arm or shoulder.

Some think it was wearing a spiked crown, shading its eyes from the rising sun with its right hand, or possibly using that hand to hold a torch aloft in a pose similar to one later given to the Statue of Liberty. No ancient account mentions the harbor-spanning pose and it seems unlikely the Greeks would have depicted one of their gods in such an awkward manner. In addition, such a pose would mean shutting down the harbor during the construction, something not economically feasible. When the statue was finished it was dedicated with a poem: To you, o Sun, the people of Dorian Rhodes set up this bronze statue reaching to Olympus, when they had pacified the waves of war and crowned their city with the spoils taken from the enemy. Not only over the seas but also on land did they kindle the lovely torch of freedom and independence. For to the descendants of Herakles belongs dominion over sea and land. Colossus To Be Rebuilt? Plans to rebuild the Colossus of Rhodes has been discussed a number of times in the last fifty years. The most recent proposal came in 2008. East German artist Gert Hof hopes to construct a new version of the statue to Helios.

However, he does not wish to make it an exact replica. Instead it will stand up to three times as tall as the original and allow people to enter it. At night it will tell "stories" using an innovative light show. Engineering the Statue The statue was constructed of bronze plates over an iron framework (very similar to the Statue of Liberty which is copper over a steel frame). According to the book of Pilon of Byzantium, 15 tons of bronze were used and 9 tons of iron, though these numbers seem low to modern architects. The Statue of Liberty, roughly of the same size, weighs 225 tons. The Colossus, which relied on weaker materials, must have weighed at least as much and probably more. Ancient accounts tell us that inside the statue were several stone columns which acted as the main support. Iron beams were driven into the stone and connected with the bronze outer skin. Each bronze plate had to be carefully cast then hammered into the right shape for its location in the figure, then hoisted into position and riveted to the surrounding plates and the iron frame. Some stories say that a massive earthen ramp was used to access the statue during construction.

Modern engineers, however, calculate that such a ramp running all the way to the top of the statue would have been too massive to be practical. This lends credence to stories that the wood from the Helepolis seige engine was reused to build a scaffolding around the statue while it was being assembled. The architect of this great construction was Chares of Lindos, a Rhodian sculptor who was a patriot and fought in defense of the city. Chares had been involved with large scale statues before. His teacher, Lysippus, had constructed a 60-foot high likeness of Zeus. Chares probably started by making smaller versions of the statue, maybe three feet high, then used these as a guide to shaping each of the bronze plates of the skin. It is believed Chares did not live to see his project finished. There are several legends that he committed suicide. In one tale he has almost finished the statue when someone points out a small flaw in the construction. The sculptor is so ashamed of it he kills himself. Comparing the Statue of Liberty with the Colossus: Though the bodies are the same size, Liberty stands higher because of the taller pedestal.

In another version the city fathers decide to double the height of the statue. Chares only doubles his fee, forgetting that doubling the height will mean an eightfold increase in the amount of materials needed. This drives him into bankruptcy and suicide. There is no evidence that either of these tales is true, however. Collapse of the Colossus The Colossus stood proudly at the harbor entrance for some fifty-six years. Each morning the sun must have caught its polished bronze surface and made the god's figure shine. Then an earthquake hit Rhodes in 226 BC and the statue collapsed. Huge pieces of the figure lay along the harbor for centuries. A computer simulation suggests that the shaking of the earthquake made the rivets holding the bronze plates together break. At first only a few weak ones gave way, but when they failed the remaining stress was transferred to the surviving rivets, which then also failed in with a cascading effect. Though some accounts related that the statue fell over and broke apart when it hit the ground, it is more likely pieces, starting with the arms, dropped away. The legs and ankles might have even remained in position following the quake. "Even as it lies," wrote Pliny, "it excites our wonder and admiration.

Few men can clasp the thumb in their arms, and its fingers are larger than most statues. Where the limbs are broken asunder, vast caverns are seen yawning in the interior. Within it, too, are to be seen large masses of rock, by the weight of which the artist steadied it while erecting it." It is said that the Egyptian king, Ptolemy III, offered to pay for its reconstruction, but the people of Rhodes refused his help. They had consulted the oracle of Delphi and feared that somehow the statue had offended the god Helios, who used the earthquake to throw it down. In the seventh century A.D., the Arabs conquered Rhodes and broke the remains of the Colossus up into smaller pieces and sold it as scrap metal. Legend says it took 900 camels to carry away the pieces. A sad end for what must have been a majestic work of art. Video: The Destruction of the Great Colossus Copyright Lee Krystek 2011. All Rights Reserved. Everything You Need to Know About Colossus of Rhodes By N.S.

Gill's Ancient/Classical History Glossary One of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Colossus of Rhodes lived up to its name. Built in tribute to Greek god Helios and in celebration of the end of a long siege, the one hundred and ten foot high Colossus was mounted on a pedestal about 50 feet high—dimensions that are not far off from another famous statue, the Colossus-inspired Statue of Liberty in New York. As its name suggests, the Colossus was located in the city of Rhodes on the island of the same name. Located near Asia Minor, Rhodes [See Bd on map of Asia Minor ] was an ancient trading center. As such, it was highly coveted and repeatedly conquered. That tumultuous history helped give rise to this artistic and engineering wonder. It was conquered by Mausolus of Halicarnassus—king of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus fame—in 357 B.C., then by the Persians, and then by Alexander the Great in 332. Following the death of Alexander, the people of Rhodes sided with Ptolemy Soter (367-282 B.C.).

continue reading below our video Test Your General Science Knowledge Antigonus (382-301 B.C.), one of the other two successors to Alexander, thought he should control Rhodes, so he sent his son Demetrius (known as the Besieger "Polorketes" 337-283) with an army larger than the entire population of Rhodes. The Rhodians were resourceful and lucky. They flooded the area outside the walls of the capital city (also Rhodes) and kept the invaders at bay for a year until Ptolemy's ships came from Egypt to help. The invaders then left, abandoning much of their military equipment. In about 304, the Rhodians took advantage of this abandoned material to build a great statue in honor of their patron god Helios—the Greek god of the sun—and to commemorate their victory. The statue, thought to have taken 12 years to complete, was designed by Chares, an architect who studied with Lysippus, creator of a 60-foot statue of Zeus. Chare’s creation was built by erecting an iron framework to support the bronze plates sculpture of Helios.

According one ancient text, the work used 15 tons of bronze and 9 tons of iron, although that number seems small compared to Lady Liberty who weighs in at 225 tons. While many artists have depicted the Colossus as straddling the harbor of Rhodes, scholars believe the statue was positioned on one side of the water, standing is a more classical pose. It remained in place, shimmering in the sun and greeting harbor visitors for 56 years, until in 226 B.C. an earthquake struck Rhodes and the Colossus collapsed, laying in pieces by the harbor. Centuries later, when Rhodes was conquered by Arabs, the remaining pieces were sold off as scrap metal, a sad and tragic ending to one of the ancient world’s most legendary works of art. > The modern Rhodes Island The Colossus of Rhodes was a huge statue of the god Helios, erected on the Greek island of Rhodes by Chares of Lindos in the 3rd century BC. It was roughly the same size as the Statue of Liberty in New York, although it stood on a lower platform. It was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The Colussus of Rhodes probably did not stand astride the harbor entrance as shown here The Colussus of Rhodes probably did not stand astride the harbor entrance as shown hereWhen Alexander the Great died at an early age he had not had time to put into place any plans for succession. Fights broke out between his generals, the "Diadochi", with three of them eventually dividing up much of the empire in the Mediterranean area. During the fighting Rhodes had sided with Ptolemy, and when Ptolemy eventually took control of Egypt, they formed an alliance which controlled much of the trade in the eastern Mediterranean. Another of Alexander's generals, Antigonus, was upset by this turn of events. In 305 BC he had his son Demetrius (now a famous general on his own) invade Rhodes with an army of 40,000. However, the city was well defended, and Demetrius had to start construction of a number of massive siege towers in order to gain access to the walls. The first was mounted on six ships, which blew over in a storm before they could be used.

He tried again with an even larger land-based tower, but the Rhodian defenders stopped this by flooding the land in front of the walls so the tower could not move. In 304 BC a force of ships sent by Ptolemy arrived, and Demetrius's army left in a hurry, leaving most of their equipment. Despite his failure at Rhodes, Demetrius earned the nickname Poliorcetes, "besieger of cities" by his successes elsewhere. The Colossus of Rhodes, imagined in this engraving by Martin Heemskerck, was built about 280 BCE. Standing 30 m (100 ft) high, it was built to guard the entrance to the harbour at Rhodes. The ancient Greeks and Romans considered it one of the Seven Wonders of the World. To celebrate their victory the Rhodians decided to build a giant statue of their patron god Helios. Construction was left to the direction of Chares, a native of Rhodes, who had been involved with large scale statues before. His teacher, the famed sculptor Lysippus, had constructed a 60-foot high statue of Zeus.

The Colossus of Rhodes, imagined in this engraving by Martin Heemskerck, was built about 280 BCE. Standing 30 m (100 ft) high, it was built to guard the entrance to the harbour at Rhodes. The ancient Greeks and Romans considered it one of the Seven Wonders of the World.Ancient accounts (which differ to some degree) describe the structure as being built around several stone columns (or towers of blocks) on the interior of the structure, sitting on a 50 foot high white marble pedestal near the harbour entrance (others claim on a breakwater in the harbour). Iron beams were driven into the stone towers, and bronze plates attached to the bars formed the skinning. Much of the material was melted down from the various weapons Demetrius's army left behind, and the abandoned second siege tower was used for scaffolding around the lower levels. Upper portions were built with the use of a large earthen ramp. The statue itself was over 34 meters (110 feet) tall. Construction completed in 282 BC after 12 years. The statue stood for only 56 years until Rhodes was hit by an earthquake in 226 BC.

The statue snapped at the knees, and fell over onto the land. Ptolemy III offered to pay for the reconstruction of the statue, but an oracle made the Rhodians afraid that they had offended Helios, and they declined to rebuild it. The remains lay on the ground for over 800 years, and even broken they were so impressive that many traveled to see them. Pliny the Elder remarked that few people could wrap their arms around the fallen thumb and that each of its fingers was larger than most statues. In AD 654 an Arab force under Muawiyah I captured Rhodes, who sold the remains to a travelling salesman from Edessa, Mesopotamia, according to the chronicler Theophanes. The purchaser had the statue broken down, and transported the bronze scrap on the backs of 900 camels to his home. Pieces continued to turn up for sale for years, after being found on the caravan route. Many older illustrations (above) show the statue with one foot on either side of the harbour mouth with ships passing under it - ... the brazen giant of Greek fame, with conquering limbs astride from land to land ....

Shakespeare's Cassius in Julius Caesar (II,i,136-8) says of Caesar: ""Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus, and we petty men Walk under his huge legs and peep about To find ourselves dishonourable graves." The harbor-straddling Colossus was a figment of later imaginations. This website was created by Dimitris Liarelis, a young resident of the modern Rhodes Island of Greece Jan. 4 2016 12:17 PM Should a Greek Island Reconstruct One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World? By Kristin Hohenadel The Colossus of Rhodes project wants to resurrect an ancient wonder of the world to boost a struggling 21st-century Greece. Courtesy of the Colossus of Rhodes Project The Colossus of Rhodes was a monumental bronze statue of Helios, the Greek sun god, constructed in 280 B.C. to celebrate a military victory. The statue was later destroyed in an earthquake in 226 B.C. A 16th-century artist’s rendering of the Colossus of Rhodes.

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Now a team of young European architects has concocted an immodest proposal to resurrect a supersized 21st-century version of the original statue, considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World . The team behind the Colossus of Rhodes Project developed the idea in the aftermath of Greece’s ongoing economic crisis as a way “to make Rhodes a new point of reference for the whole world, to follow a new path and find a solution to the issues that caused such a big sorrow to thousands of people, forced to flee abroad,” they write in a mission statement . Courtesy of the Colossus of Rhodes Project Advertisement They aren’t seeking to copy the original, they say, but to create jobs to help prop up the faltering Greek economy and national spirit with a 500-foot-tall sustainable structure covered in solar panels and built to withstand earthquakes. If constructed, it would also serve as a cultural center, library, exhibition hall, and a lighthouse.

Courtesy of the Colossus of Rhodes Project They argue that the project, which they estimate would cost up to $283 million, a sum they believe could be raised by private investments or international crowdfunding, would create jobs and revenue once built by attracting visitors that would lengthen Rhodes’ tourist season. Courtesy of the Colossus of Rhodes Project So is the answer to Greece’s image problem and economic woes a gleaming monstrosity that looks like something from a Game of Thrones set, with all the chest-thumping subtlety of a Trump tower or a Stalin monument? Issues of taste aside, once a great wonder of the world has been lost, it seems like a fool’s errand to think that it can—or should—ever truly be resurrected. For more information and a virtual simulation of the project, check out the videos below. Kristin Hohenadel's writing on design has appeared in publications including the New York Times, Fast Company, Vogue, Elle Decor, Lonny, and Apartment Therapy.

The Colossus of Rhodes: Ancient Greek Mega Statue | Ancient Origins 18 June, 2015 - 00:50 Bryan Hill The Colossus of Rhodes: Ancient Greek Mega Statue (Read the article on one page) The Colossus of Rhodes was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the most ambitious and tallest statue of the Hellenistic period. The last of the seven wonders to be completed, it was a statue built to thank the gods for victory over an invading enemy. Bearing a striking resemblance to the Statue of Liberty in the United States, the Colossus of Rhodes stood for less than sixty years before being destroyed by an earthquake. Some mystery remains as to where it was really located and what happened after it was destroyed. Since ancient times, the small Greek island of Rhodes has been a main intersection between the Aegean and the Mediterranean seas, and was an important economic center in the ancient world. The capital city, also named Rhodes, was built in 408 BC and was designed to take advantage of the island's best natural harbor on the northern coast.

In 357 BC the island was conquered by Mausolus of Halicarnassus but fell into Persian hands in 340 BC and was finally captured by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. In the late fourth century BC, Rhodes allied with Ptolemy I of Egypt against their common enemy, Antigonus I Monophthalmus of Macedonia. In 305 BC, Antigonus sent his son Demetrius to capture and punish the city of Rhodes for its alliance with Egypt. He attacked the island with 40,000 men and weapons and started a war which lasted a year. A relief force of ships sent by Ptolemy arrived in 304 BC, and Antigonus’ army abandoned the siege, leaving behind most of their siege equipment. To celebrate their victory, the Rhodians sold the equipment and decided to use the money to build a huge statue, to their sun god, Helios, called the Colossus of Rhodes. Nearly as tall as the iconic Statue of Liberty built 2,000 years later, the Colossus was also erected as a celebration of freedom.

The masterful works of ancient sculptor Phidias The Colossus of Rhodes, depicted in this hand-colored engraving, was built about 280 BC. Standing 30 meters (100 feet) high, it was built to guard the entrance to the harbor at Rhodes. The ancient Greeks and Romans considered it to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Public Domain According to Pliny the Elder, a Greek historian who lived several centuries after the Colossus was built, its construction took 12 years and was completed in 280 BC. The pride of the city, the people thought the statue would stand forever. Charles of Lindos was its architect and was given the task of building a statue nearly twice as tall as any ever built. The base was made of white marble and the structure was gradually erected as bronze plates were fortified over an iron and stone framework. According to the book of “ Pilon of Byzantium” , 15 tons of bronze was used, along with 9 tons of iron, though these numbers seem low to modern architects. Bronze came from another unlikely source.

It was decided to fashion the colossus from the bronze weapons of their defeated invaders along with a captured giant enemy siege tower, some nine stories in height which served as the scaffolding of the project. When the statue was finally finished, it was dedicated with a poem: Preserved in Greek anthologies of poetry is what is believed to be genuine dedication text for the Colossus: To you, o Sun, the people of Dorian Rhodes set up this bronze statue reaching Olympus, When they had pacified the waves of war and crowned their city with the spoils taken from the enemy. Not only over the seas but also on land did they kindle the lovely torch of freedom and independence. For to the descendants of Herakles belongs dominion over seas and land. The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of superhuman proportions. It stood over 107 feet (30 meters) high, making it one of the largest statues in the ancient world; the thigh alone was supposedly 11 feet (3 meters) in width, the ankle 5 feet (1.5 meters) in length. Colossal statues, then and now.

Left, illustration of the Colossus of Rhodes in ancient Greece, and right, the Statue of Liberty of the United States of America. (Public Domain) Today, nobody’s exactly sure how the Colossus of Rhodes looked or what its posture was. The only thing for certain is that it did not stand with its legs stretched across the harbor entrance as depicted in many medieval drawings. If the completed statue had straddled the harbor, the entire mouth of the harbor would have been effectively closed during the entirety of the construction. Colossus of Rhodes | Seven Wonders of the Ancient World | Fandom powered by Wikia Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Share Ad blocker interference detected! Wikia is a free-to-use site that makes money from advertising. We have a modified experience for viewers using ad blockers Wikia is not accessible if you’ve made further modifications. Remove the custom ad blocker rule(s) and the page will load as expected. The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek god Helios, erected on the Greek island of Rhodes by Chares of Lindos between 292 and 280 BC. It is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Before its destruction, the Colossus of Rhodes stood over 30 meters (107 ft) high, making it one of the tallest statues of the ancient world. Contents [ show ] Siege of Rhodes Colossus of Rhodes, imagined in a 16th-century engraving by Martin Heemskerck, part of his series of the Seven Wonders of the World. Alexander the Great of Macedonia died at an early age in 323 BC without having had time to put into place any plans for his succession. Fighting broke out among his generals, the Diadochi, with four of them eventually dividing up much of his empire in the Mediterranean area. During the fighting, Rhodes had sided with Ptolemy, and when Ptolemy eventually took control of Egypt, Rhodes and Ptolemaic Egypt formed an alliance which controlled much of the trade in the eastern Mediterranean. Antigonus I Monophthalmus was upset by this turn of events.

In 305 BC he had his son Demetrius Poliorcetes, also a general, invade Rhodes with an army of 40,000; however, the city was well defended, and Demetrius—whose name "Poliorcetes" signifies the "besieger of cities"—had to start construction of a number of massive siege towers in order to gain access to the walls. The first was mounted on six ships, but these capsized in a storm before they could be used. He tried again with a larger, land-based tower named Helepolis, but the Rhodian defenders stopped this by flooding the land in front of the walls so that the rolling tower could not move. In 304 BC a relief force of ships sent by Ptolemy arrived, and Demetrius's army abandoned the siege, leaving most of their siege equipment. To celebrate their victory, the Rhodians sold the equipment left behind for 300 talents (roughly US$360 million in today's money) and decided to use the money to build a colossal statue of their patron god, Helios.

Construction was left to the direction of Chares, a native of Lindos in Rhodes, who had been involved with large-scale statues before. His teacher, the sculptor Lysippos, had constructed a 22 meter (70 ft) high bronze statue of Zeus at Tarentum. Construction Ancient accounts, which differ to some degree, describe the structure as being built with iron tie bars to which brass plates were fixed to form the skin. The interior of the structure, which stood on a 15 meters (50 ft) high white marble pedestal near the Mandraki harbor entrance, was then filled with stone blocks as construction progressed. Other sources place the Colossus on a breakwater in the harbor. The statue itself was over 30 meters (107 ft) tall. Much of the iron and bronze was reforged from the various weapons Demetrius's army left behind, and the abandoned second siege tower was used for scaffolding around the lower levels during construction. Upper portions were built with the use of a large earthen ramp. During the building, workers would pile mounds of dirt on the sides of the colossus.

Upon completion all of the dirt was removed and the colossus was left to stand alone. After twelve years, in 280 BC, the statue was completed. Preserved in Greek anthologies of poetry is what is believed to be the genuine dedication text for the Colossus. To you, o Sun, the people of Dorian Rhodes set up this bronze statue reaching to Olympus, when they had pacified the waves of war and crowned their city with the spoils taken from the enemy. Not only over the seas but also on land did they kindle the lovely torch of freedom and independence. For to the descendants of Herakles belongs dominion over sea and land. Possible construction method Modern engineers have put forward a plausible hypothesis for the statue construction, based on the technology of those days (which was not based on the modern principles of earthquake engineering), and the accounts of Philo and Pliny who both saw and described the remains. The base pedestal was at least 60 feet (18 m) in diameter and either circular or octagonal. The feet were carved in stone and covered with thin bronze plates riveted together.

Eight forged iron bars set in a radiating horizontal position formed the ankles and turned up to follow the lines of the legs while becoming progressively smaller. Individually cast curved bronze plates 60 inches (1,500 mm) square with turned in edges were joined together by rivets through holes formed during casting to form a series of rings. The lower plates were 1-inch (25 mm) in thickness to the knee and 3/4 inch thick from knee to abdomen, while the upper plates were 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick except where additional strength was required at joints such as the shoulder, neck, etc. The legs would need to be filled at least to the knees with stones for stability. Accounts described earthen mounds used to aid construction; however, to reach the top of the statue would have required a mound 300 feet (91 m) in diameter, which exceeded the available land area, so modern engineers have proposed that the abandoned siege towers stripped down would have made efficient scaffolding.

A computer simulation of this construction indicated that an earthquake would have caused a cascade failure of the rivets, causing the statue to break up at the joints while still standing instead of breaking after falling to the ground, as described in second hand accounts. The arms would have been first to separate, followed by the legs. The knees were less likely to break and the ankles' survival would have depended on the quality of the workmanship. Destruction The statue stood for only 56 years until Rhodes was hit by an earthquake in 226 BC. The statue snapped at the knees and fell over on to the land. Ptolemy III offered to pay for the reconstruction of the statue, but the oracle of Delphi made the Rhodians afraid that they had offended Helios, and they declined to rebuild it. The remains lay on the ground as described by Strabo (xiv.2.5) for over 800 years, and even broken, they were so impressive that many traveled to see them. Pliny the Elder remarked that few people could wrap their arms around the fallen thumb and that each of its fingers was larger than most statues.

In 654 an Arab force under Muslim caliph Muawiyah I captured Rhodes, and according to the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor, the remains were sold to a "Jewish merchant of Edessa". The buyer had the statue broken down, and transported the bronze scrap on the backs of 900 camels to his home. There is compelling evidence, however, that all traces of the Colossus had actually disappeared long before the Arab invasion. Theophanes is the sole source of this story to which all other sources can be traced. The stereotypical Arab destruction and the purported sale to a Jew probably originated as a powerful metaphor for Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the destruction of a great and awesome statue, and would have been understood by any seventh century monk as evidence for the coming apocalypse. The same story is recorded by Barhebraeus, writing in syriac in the 13th century in Edessa (see E.A. Wallis Budge, The Chronography of Gregory Abu'l-Faraj, vol I, p.

98, APA - Philo Press, Amsterdam, 1932): (After the Arab pillage of Rhodes) "And a great number of men hauled on strong ropes which were tied round the brass Colossus which was in the city and pulled it down. And they weighed from it three thousand loads of Corinthian brass, and they sold it to a certain Jew from Emesa" (that is the Syrian city of Homs). Posture Colossus of Rhodes The harbor-straddling Colossus was a figment of medieval imaginations based on the dedication text's mention of "over land and sea" twice. Many older illustrations (above) show the statue with one foot on either side of the harbor mouth with ships passing under it: "...the brazen giant of Greek fame, with conquering limbs astride from land to land..." ("The New Colossus", a poem engraved on a bronze plaque and mounted inside the Statue of Liberty in 1903).

Shakespeare's Cassius in Julius Caesar (I,ii,136–38) says of Caesar: Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus, and we petty men Walk under his huge legs and peep about To find ourselves dishonorable graves Shakespeare alludes to the Colossus also in Troilus and Cressida (V.5) and in Henry IV, Part 1 (V.1). While these fanciful images feed the misconception, the mechanics of the situation reveal that the Colossus could not have straddled the harbor as described in Lemprière's Classical Dictionary. If the completed statue straddled the harbor, the entire mouth of the harbor would have been effectively closed during the entirety of the construction; nor would the ancient Rhodians have had the means to dredge and re-open the harbor after construction. The statue fell in 224 BC: if it straddled the harbor mouth, it would have entirely blocked the harbor. Also, since the ancients would not have had the ability to remove the entire statue from the harbor, it would not have remained visible on land for the next 800 years, as discussed above.

Even neglecting these objections, the statue was made of bronze, and an engineering analysis proved that it could not have been built with its legs apart without collapsing from its own weight. Many researchers have considered alternate positions for the statue which would have made it more feasible for actual construction by the ancients. The design, posture and dimensions of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor are based on what the Colossus was thought by engineers in the late 19th century to have looked like. Location of the ruins Media reports in 1989 initially suggested that large stones found on the seabed off the coast of Rhodes might have been the remains of the Colossus; however this theory was later shown to be without merit. Another theory published in an article in 2008 by Ursula Vedder suggests that the Colossus was never in the port, but rather on a hill named Monte Smith, which overlooks the port area. The temple on top of Monte Smith has traditionally thought to have been devoted to Apollo, but according to Vedder, it would have been a Helios sanctuary.

The enormous stone foundations at the temple site, the function of which is not definitively known by modern scholars, are proposed by Vedder to have been the supporting platform of the Colossus. Modern times Americans will be aware of the reference to the Colossus in the poem "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus, written in 1883 and inscribed on a plaque located inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, in New York Harbor: Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" There has been much debate as to whether to rebuild the Colossus. Those in favor say it would boost tourism in Rhodes greatly, but those against construction say it would cost too large an amount (over 100 million euro). This idea has been revived many times since it was first proposed in 1970 but, due to lack of funding, work has not yet started. Rebuilding In November 2008, it was announced that the Colossus of Rhodes was to be rebuilt. According to Dr. Dimitris Koutoulas, who is heading the project in Greece, rather than reproducing the original Colossus, the new structure will be a, "highly, highly innovative light sculpture, one that will stand between 60 and 100 metres tall so that people can physically enter it." The project is expected to cost up to €200m which will be provided by international donors and the German artist Gert Hof. The new Colossus will adorn an outer pier in the harbour area of Rhodes, where it will be visible to passing ships.

Koutoulas said, "Although we are still at the drawing board stage, Gert Hof's plan is to make it the world's largest light installation, a structure that has never before been seen in any place of the world." Colossus of Rhodes Colossus of Rhodes ► More 7 Wonders of the Ancient World The Colossus of Rhodes was a 98 foot high statue which towered over the Greek Island of Rhodes. The Ancient Wonder was completed around 280 BC. It was erected to celebrate victory over the army of Cypress which attempted a siege of Rhodes in 305 BC. The city was able to withstand the siege of 40,000 soldiers. After several failed attempts to gain access to the well defended city, by both land and sea, the invading army left, abandoning their equipment. The sale of this equipment provided the money for the people of Rhodes to construct the Colossus. Greek Titan Helios The Colossus was a massive statue dedicated to the Greek Titan, Helios. In Greek mythology Helios was the sun god. He is said to ride a chariot of the sun around the Earth. Homer believed that the chariot was pulled by four solar steeds.

Chares of Lindos The Colossus was cast in Bronze by the great Greek sculptor Chares of Lindos. It is widely believed that he died shortly before the completion of his greatest work. Some historians believe that he committed suicide. One such record states that he killed himself due to the shame caused by a minor flaw in the statue although this is dismissed by many historians as just a myth. Destruction of the Colossus Although the Colossus of Rhodes was a major tourist attraction for over 900 years, the beginning of its destruction began far earlier, when it was just 56 years old. A massive earthquake hit Rhodes in 226 BC which broke the Colossus at the ankles and left it toppled on the ground. At the time some people wanted to repair and rebuild the Colossus but others took the view that its construction had angered the gods who had chosen to destroy it. It is likely that the deaths caused by the earthquake would have been attributed to the anger of the gods and contributed to the decision to leave it in place on the ground, where the gods wanted it. The Colossus was seen as a symbol of great power and human achievement.

Thus, its destruction in a matter of seconds in a mighty earthquake would have been very frightening for the people of Rhodes. The Colossus lay in place for nearly 900 years until Rhodes was invaded by Muslim armies. Several accounts give credence to the idea that it was salvaged for scrap at this time. Rebuilding The Colossus There has been a lot of talk of a new version of the Colossus of Rhodes to be rebuilt on the same site which would become a major international tourist attraction. The most recent project idea is to build a massive 328 foot light installation on the site as a modern version of the Colossus. This project is in the planning stage and requires an estimated 200 million euros to complete. It is still hoped that a new Colossus of Rhodes will become a reality in the future. 7 Wonders of the Ancient World There's a Plan To Rebuild the Colossus of Rhodes The World's Largest Carbon Capture Tech Is Online There's a Plan To Rebuild the Colossus of Rhodes A 500-foot bronze statue of the Greek god Helios, towering over the entryway to a port. Just think of the Titan of Braavos from Game of Thrones.

Most Popular Colossus of Rhodes Project Advertisement - Continue Reading Below A collective of European architects has proposed to build a 21st-century version of the Colossus of Rhodes, the ancient Greek statue erected on the island of Rhodes in the 3rd century B.C. The new statue would stand 500-feet tall and serve as a cultural center as well as a lighthouse. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World , the Colossus of Rhodes was a 100-foot bronze statue of Helios, the Greek titan-god of the sun. It was constructed in 280 B.C. to celebrate a military victory over Antigonus I Monophthalmus , the ruler of Cyprus who unsuccessfully besieged Rhodes in 305 B.C. The Colossus stood as one of the tallest structures of the ancient world until an earthquake brought it crashing down in 226 B.C. Colossus of Rhodes Project Most Popular Now, a group of architects, civil engineers, and archeologists from around Europe want to build a modern version of the statue, five times taller than the original.

The project website describes "a contemporary 150-meters-tall building which would be used as a cultural center, as a library, an exhibition hall and a lighthouse." The designers want to cover the entire exterior with solar panels to power the enormous building. To ensure that the statue won't succumb to the same fate as the old Colossus, the engineering team says they will use "intelligent systems to prevent the consequences of earthquakes and wind forces." This amounts to building the statue as a tripod structure—two legs and a third support from the sash draped over the titan's arm and touching the ground—and placing a heavy steel support around the base to act as a counterbalance. A suspension system would allow the statue to rock back and forth. The Colossus of Rhodes Project says in its mission statement that one of the project's goals is to ease the economic hardships that have plagued Greece lately by both employing construction workers and attracting tourists to the island of Rhodes. The planned statue is intended to "put Rhodes again on the world map." The backers estimate the cost of the statue at $283 million. They believe they can raise that much money through crowdfunding and private investments.

It's an incredibly ambitious plan to be sure, and we're not convinced that it will ever get off the ground. But if the Colossus of Rhodes is resurrected, sailing into the island's harbor would be the experience of a lifetime—a real life version of cruising into Braavos . Colossus of Rhodes | AncientWorldWonders AncientWorldWonders 25 Oct 2011 at 06:12 admin Colossus Greek Helios Rhodes Statue Titan ... The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek Titan Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes on the Greek island of Rhodes by Chares of Lindos between 292 and 280 BC. It is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was constructed to celebrate Rhodes’ victory over the ruler of Cyprus, Antigonus I Monophthalmus, who unsuccessfully besieged Rhodes in 305 BC. Before its destruction, the Colossus of Rhodes stood over 30 meters (107 ft) high, making it one of the tallest statues of the ancient world. The storyline along the statue goes as following: The island of Rhodes was an important economic center in the ancient world.

It is located off the southwestern tip of Asia Minor where the Aegean Sea meets the Mediterranean. The capitol city, also named Rhodes, was built in 408 B.C. and was designed to take advantage of the island’s best natural harbor on the northern coast. It was often the reason of wars which lasted for centuries. Capturing this blossoming territory meant holding the reins of the economic at hand. Thus, it was ruled by such well-known conqueror as Alexander the Great. After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, his heritage was left without a assigned governor as much as Alexander couldn’t call the name of future emperor. Fighting broke out among his generals, the Diadochi, with four of them eventually dividing much of his empire in the Mediterranean area. As a result Ptolemy took control of Egypt, Rhodes and Ptolemaic Egypt formed an alliance which controlled much of the trade in the eastern Mediterranean. Antigonus I Monophthalmus was upset by this turn of events.

In 305 BC he had his son Demetrius Poliorcetes, also a general, invade Rhodes with an army of 40,000; however, the city was well-defended and it was nearly impossible to get through the walls, which was around the city. Demetrius tried to build number of siege towers in order to get access to the walls. But all was in vain. In 304 BC a relief force of ships sent by Ptolemy arrived, and Demetrius’s army abandoned the siege, leaving most of their siege equipment. To celebrate their victory, the Rhodians sold the equipment left behind for 300 talents]and decided to use the money to build a colossal statue of their patron god, Helios. Construction was left to the direction of Chares, a native of Lindos in Rhodes, who had been involved with large-scale statues before. Most likely the construction started in 292 BC; This belief seems more true even, though it’s often said that work over it began in 304 BC. However, according to Pliny, a historian who lived several centuries after the Colossus was built, construction took 12 years.

Modern engineers have put forward a plausible hypothesis for the statue construction, based on the technology of those days (which was not based on the modern principles of earthquake engineering), and the accounts of Philo and Pliny who both saw and described the remains.]The statue was one hundred and ten feet high and stood upon a fifty-foot pedestal near the harbor entrance perhaps on a breakwater. Although the statue has sometimes been popularly depicted with its legs spanning the harbor entrance so that ships could pass beneath, it was actually posed in a more traditional Greek manner. Historians believe the figure was nude or semi-nude with a cloak over its left arm or shoulder. Some think it was wearing a spiked crown, shading its eyes from the rising sun with its right hand, or possibly using that hand to hold a torch aloft in a pose similar to one later given to the Statue of Liberty. No ancient account mentions the harbor-spanning pose and it seems unlikely the Greeks would have depicted one of their gods in such an awkward manner. In addition, such a pose would mean shutting down the harbor during the construction, something not economically feasible. The statue itself was constructed of bronze plates over an iron framework (very similar to the Statue of Liberty which is copper over a steel frame).

According to the book of Pilon of Byzantium, 15 tons of bronze were used and 9 tons of iron, though these numbers seem low to modern architects. The Statue of Liberty, roughly of the same size, weighs 225 tons. The Colossus, which relied on weaker materials, must have weighed at least as much and probably more. [ADS2] Ancient accounts tell us that inside the statue were several stone columns which acted as the main support. Iron beams were driven into the stone and connected with the bronze outer skin. Each bronze plate had to be carefully cast then hammered into the right shape for its location in the figure, then hoisted into position and riveted to the surrounding plates and the iron frame. Some stories say that a massive earthen ramp was used to access the statue during construction. Modern engineers, however, calculate that such a ramp running all the way to the top of the statue would have been too massive to be practical. This lends credence to stories that the wood from the Helepolis seige engine was reused to build a scaffolding around the statue while it was being assembled.

The architect of this great construction was Chares of Lindos, a Rhodian sculptor who was a patriot and fought in defense of the city. It is believed Chares did not live to see his project finished. There are several legends that he committed suicide. In one tale he has almost finished the statue when someone points out a small flaw in the construction. The sculptor is so ashamed of it he kills himself. [ADS2] The statue stood for 56 years until Rhodes was hit by the 226 BC Rhodes earthquakes, when significant damage was also done to large portions of the city, including the harbor and commercial buildings, which were destroyed. The statue snapped at the knees and fell over on to the land. Ptolemy III offered to pay for the reconstruction of the statue, but the oracle of Delphi made the Rhodians afraid that they had offended Helios, and they declined to rebuild it. The remains lay on the ground as described by Strabo for over 800 years, and even broken, they were so impressive that many traveled to see them. Pliny the Elder remarked that few people could wrap their arms around the fallen thumb and that each of its fingers was larger than most statues.

In 654, an Arab force under Muslim caliph Muawiyah I captured Rhodes, and according to the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor, the remains were sold to a “Jewish merchant of Edessa”. The buyer had the statue broken down, and transported the bronze scrap on the backs of 900 camels to his home. While these fanciful images feed the misconception, the mechanics of the situation reveal that the Colossus could not have straddled the harbor as described in Lemprière’s Classical Dictionary. If the completed statue straddled the harbor, the entire mouth of the harbor would have been effectively closed during the entirety of the construction; nor would the ancient Rhodians have had the means to dredge and re-open the harbor after construction. The statue fell in 224 BC: if it straddled the harbor mouth, it would have entirely blocked the harbor. Also, since the ancients would not have had the ability to remove the entire statue from the harbor, it would not have remained visible on land for the next 800 years, as discussed above.

Even neglecting these objections, the statue was made of bronze, and an engineering analysis proved that it could not have been built with its legs apart without collapsing from its own weight. Many researchers have considered alternate positions for the statue which would have made it more feasible for actual construction by the ancients. The design, posture and dimensions of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor are based on what the Colossus was thought by engineers in the late 19th century to have looked like. Every person that gets an opportunity to travel to New York gets marvelous sight, Standing on a small island in the harbor is an immense statue of a robed woman, holding a book and lifting a torch to the sky. The statue measures almost one-hundred and twenty feet from foot to crown. It is sometimes referred to as the “Modern Colossus,” but more often called the Statue of Liberty. This awe-inspiring statue was a gift from France to America and is easily recognized by people around the world.

What many visitors to this shrine to freedom don’t know is that the statue, the “Modern Colossus,” is the echo of another statue, the original colossus, which we have talked so much about above, that stood over two thousand years ago at the entrance to another busy harbor on the Island of Rhodes. Like the Statue of Liberty, this colossus was also built as a celebration of freedom.

Question: One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World was the Colossus of Rhodes, a mammoth statue of what Greek god?
Answer: Helios