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Click on the names of the cities THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES
The harbour-straddling Colossus was a figment of medieval imaginations based on the dedication text's mention of "over land and sea" twice. Many older illustrations 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. While these fanciful images feed the misconception, the mechanics of the situation reveal that the Colossus could not have straddled the harbour as described in Lempri. If the completed statue straddled the harbour, the entire mouth of the harbour would be effectively closed during the entirety of the construction; nor would the ancient Rhodians have had the means to dredge and re-open the harbour after construction. The statue fell in 224 BC: if it straddled the harbour mouth, it would have entirely blocked the harbour. Also, since the ancients would not have had the ability to remove the entire statue from the harbour, 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 island of Rhodes was an important economic centre in the ancient world. In 357 B.C. the island was conquered by Maulosus of Halicarnassus, fell into Persian hands in 340 B.C. and was finally captured by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. When Alexander died his generals fought among themselves for control of Alexander’s kingdom. But only three of them succeeded in divining the kingdom among them, Seleucus, Antigous and Ptolemy. The locals supported the last one, but this angered Antigous who sent his son Demetrius to capture the city of Rhodes with a long and painful war. Finally the Rhodians succeed in winning Demetrius with the help of some ships from Egypt. To celebrate their victory and freedom, they decided to build a giant statue of their patron god Helios. They melted down bronze from the war machines Demetrius left behind for the exterior of the figure and the super siege tower became the scaffolding for the project. The historians place the start of the work in 304 B.C. and it is said that the construction took 12 years. The statue was one hundred and ten feet high and stood upon a fifty foot pedestal near the harbor mole. Although the statue has been popularly depicted with its legs spanning the harbor entrance so that ships could pass beneath. The architect of this great construction was Chores of Lindos, a Rhodian sculptor who was a patriot and fought in defense of the city. The colossus stood proudly at the harbour entrance for fifty-six years. Then an earthquake hit Rhodes and the statue collapsed. Huge pieces of the figure lay along the harbour for centuries. In the seventh century A.C. the Arabs conquered Rhodes and broke the remains of the colossus up into smaller pieces and sold it as scrap metal. A sad end for what must have been a majestic work of art.
A strong earthquake hit Rhodes at around 226 BC. The city was badly damaged, and the Colossus was broken at its weakest point-the knee. The Rhodians received an immediate offer from Ptolemy III to cover all restoration costs for the overturned monument. However, an oracle was consulted and forbid the re-raisin. Let us clear a bad perception about the appearance of the Colossus. It has long been believed that the Colossus stood in front of the Mandraki harbour, one of many in the city of Rhodes, straddling its entrance. Given the height of the statue and the readth of the harbour mouth, this picture is rather impossible than unlikely. Moreover, the fallen Colossus would have blocked the harbour entrance. Recent studies suggest that it was rebuilt either on the eastern cape of the Mandraki harbour, or even further inland. In case, it never straddled the harbour entrance. Although we do not know the true shape and appearance of the Colossus, modern reconstructions with the statue standing upright are more accurate than older drawings. Although it disappeared from existence, the ancient World Wonder inspired modern artists such as Auguste Bartholdi, best known by his famous work, the ‘Statue of Liberty’ in New York. Today, the Colossus is regarded as one of the Seven Wonders of the World and a masterpiece of art and engineering.
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