![]() ![]() Silver coins from Rhodes circa 316 – 305 AD with Helios represented on one side, a rose on the other. 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. 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. Today, nobody’s exactly sure how the Colossus of Rhodes looked or what its posture was. Left, illustration of the Colossus of Rhodes in ancient Greece, and right, the Statue of Liberty of the United States of America. 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.Ĭolossal statues, then and now. The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of superhuman proportions. For to the descendants of Herakles belongs dominion over seas and land. Not only over the seas but also on land did they kindle the lovely torch of freedom and independence. When they had pacified the waves of war and crowned their city with the spoils taken from the enemy. To you, o Sun, the people of Dorian Rhodes set up this bronze statue reaching Olympus, 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: 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. Bronze came from another unlikely source. ![]() 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. The base was made of white marble and the structure was gradually erected as bronze plates were fortified over an iron and stone framework. Charles of Lindos was its architect and was given the task of building a statue nearly twice as tall as any ever built. The pride of the city, the people thought the statue would stand forever. Public DomainĪccording 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 ancient Greeks and Romans considered it to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Standing 30 meters (100 feet) high, it was built to guard the entrance to the harbor at Rhodes. ![]() The Colossus of Rhodes, depicted in this hand-colored engraving, was built about 280 BC.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |