If you blinked, you might have missed it. Well, not quite. But the lifetime of the Colossus of Rhodes as a Wonder of the Ancient World was fleeting compared to some of the other six wonders. It’s reputation must’ve been very great, then, if 56 years was enough to earn everlasting fame.
The Colossus is the third Wonder of the Ancient World to appear on my blog. Never fear, the other four will follow in time. It seems a few misconception exist about the Colossus of Rhodes as well. I’ll try to clear those up over the course of this post.
Colossus of Rhodes Facts
If you aren’t familiar with Rhodes, it’s an island in the Aegean Sea. It lies between the southwestern coast of modern Turkey and the island of Crete, although nearer to Turkey. Historically, it was famous for one thing besides the Colossus of Rhodes, and that was the quality of its harbor. This brought the city of Rhodes considerable trade.
Chares of Lindos is the artist who oversaw construction of the Colossus of Rhodes. Unlike the historically famous Phidias, who created the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, we know less about Chares and his career. We know that the great statue took Chares twelve years to finish (294-282 BCE). Historians are unsure, however, if he even lived to see the project complete.
The statue itself was massive. Reportedly, it stood 105 feet tall. This is about 70% the height of the Statue of Liberty in New York. (Although the Statue of Liberty looks much taller if one counts its pedestal.) Historians know the statue was made of bronze on the outside, probably reinforced by iron bands underneath. Chares likely placed stone inside the statue to give it more weight and stability, as well.
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Why Was It Built?
The occasion for its construction was military in nature. The Kingdom of Macedonia laid siege to the city of Rhodes in 305 BCE. (This was one of the kingdoms that emerged after the death of Alexander the Great and the breakup of his empire.) When the Macedonians left, they abandoned some of their materials, and this bronze helped Chares complete the Colossus of Rhodes.
The statue was dedicated to Helios, the sun god. I’m sure it looked godlike enough when the bronze reflected full sunlight on a clear day. Some historical descriptions state one hand shielded the eyes of the statue. Not all say so, however. Helios was probably nude, although with a cloak draped over his shoulders.
What Happened to the Colossus of Rhodes?
At the start of this post I mentioned the Colossus stood for 56 years. An earthquake toppled the great statue in 226 BCE. It fell into the water outside the harbor. But that was not the end of the story. It seems that the people of Rhodes, having no easy was to dispose of the Colossus, simply left it where it fell, partially submerged.
This allowed later commentators, such as the Romans, to visit and describe what was left of the great work of art. Just like tourists will visit ancient ruins today, the Colossus of Rhodes continued to draw visitors and admirers throughout ancient times.
Its final demise came in 654, when the Arab general Muawiya captured the island. His men broke up the statue and sold its components. According to legend, it supplied 900 camel loads of scrap bronze.
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Misconceptions About the Statue
One of the most popular is that the statue straddled the entrance to the harbor of Rhodes, like in the image just above. It did not do so. It appears this is a legend that somehow arose during the Middle Ages.
Another interesting thing about the Colossus is the timing of its construction. The classical age of Greece, with Athens, Sparta, and friends duking it out for supremacy, is the 400s BCE. If one didn’t know better, they’d assume that the Colossus of Rhodes was part of that golden age of culture and art. But it wasn’t.
Instead, the people of Rhodes ordered its construction in the early 200s BCE, after the conquest of Greece by Alexander of Macedon. In most history accounts, Greece falls out of the narrative after Alexander defeats the Greeks at Chaeronea in 338 BCE. The tendency is, therefore, to assume that cultural achievement slowed down and Greece became a backwater. If the people of Rhodes had the wealth to commission this famous statue, that suggests otherwise. (We might also recall that the Academy of Athens stayed open until 529 CE.)
The whole episode is a good reminder of how viewing history through the prism of the reigns of famous people and empires of conquest can be misleading. In this case, it obscures the fact that the Greek world continued to produce thinkers and artists of considerable talent long after the end of its Golden Age.
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