View source for Colossus of Rhodes

{{Short description|One of the seven wonders of the ancient world}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2015}}
[[File:Colossus of Rhodes by Ferdinand Knab (1886) cropped.png|thumb|The Colossus of Rhodes as imagined by Ferdinand Knab, 1886]]
The '''Colossus of Rhodes''' ({{langx|grc|ὁ Κολοσσὸς Ῥόδιος|ho Kolossòs Rhódios}}; {{langx|el|label=[[Modern Greek]]|Κολοσσός της Ρόδου|Kolossós tis Ródou}}){{efn|''Kolossos'' means "giant statue". [[Robert S. P. Beekes|R.S.P. Beekes]] has suggested a [[Pre-Greek]] proto-form *''kolok<sup>y</sup>-''.<ref>{{cite book |first=R.S.P. |last=Beekes |author-link=Robert S. P. Beekes |year=2009 |title=Etymological Dictionary of Greek |publisher=Brill |page=740 |isbn=9789004174184}}</ref>}} was a [[statue]] of the Greek sun god [[Helios]], erected in the city of [[Rhodes (city)|Rhodes]], on the Greek [[Rhodes|island of the same name]], by [[Chares of Lindos]] in 280&nbsp;BC. One of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]], it was constructed to celebrate the successful defence of Rhodes city against an attack by [[Demetrius I of Macedon]], who had besieged it for a year with a large army and navy.

According to most contemporary descriptions, the Colossus stood approximately 70 [[cubit]]s, or {{convert|33|m|ft|abbr=off}} high – approximately two-thirds of the height of the modern [[Statue of Liberty]] from feet to crown – making it the tallest statue in the [[ancient world]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Reynold |last=Higgins |year=1988 |section=The Colossus of Rhodes |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vGhbJzigPBwC&pg=PA130 130] |title=The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World |editor1-first=Peter A. |editor1-last=Clayton  |editor2-first=Martin Jessop |editor2-last=Price |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=9780415050364}}</ref> It collapsed during the [[226 BC Rhodes earthquake|earthquake of 226 BC]], although parts of it were preserved. In accordance with the [[Oracle of Delphi]], the Rhodians did not rebuild it.<ref>{{cite book |author=Strabo |author-link=Strabo |title=Geography |at=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-grc1:14.2.5 14.2.5] }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Why Have There Been Plans to Build a New Colossus of Rhodes? {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/story/why-have-there-been-plans-to-build-a-new-colossus-of-rhodes |access-date=2024-02-07 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=2024-02-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240207111422/https://www.britannica.com/story/why-have-there-been-plans-to-build-a-new-colossus-of-rhodes |url-status=live }}</ref> [[John Malalas]] wrote that [[Hadrian]] in his reign re-erected the Colossus,<ref>{{cite book |first=J. |last=Malalas |author-link=John Malalas |title=Chronography |at=Bks 10–11, [https://topostext.org/work/793#11.279 11.279] }}</ref> but he was mistaken.<ref>{{cite book |last=Boatwright |first=Mary T. |year=2002 |title=Hadrian and the Cities of the Roman Empire |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=24 |isbn=978-0-6910-9493-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pf9ZDwAAQBAJ |access-date=2020-10-02 |archive-date=2024-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521125859/https://books.google.com/books?id=pf9ZDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the [[Suda]], the Rhodians were called Colossaeans ({{langx|grc|Κολοσσαεῖς|label=none}}), because they erected the statue on the island.<ref>{{cite book |title=Suda |title-link=Suda |at=[https://topostext.org/work/240#ka.1932 ka.1932]}}</ref>

In 653, an Arab force under Muslim general [[Mu'awiya I]] conquered Rhodes, and according to the ''Chronicle'' of [[Theophanes the Confessor]],<ref name="Constantine-VII-xx–xxi">{{cite book |author-link=Constantine VII |author=Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos |title=[[De administrando imperio]] |at=xx–xxi}}</ref> the statue was completely destroyed and the remains sold.<ref name=Clarendon-1997>{{cite book |title=The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor |year=1997 |publisher=Clarendon Press |place=Oxford, UK |pages=481 |chapter=AM 6145, AD 652/-3}}</ref> 

Since 2008, a series of proposals to build a new Colossus at Rhodes Harbour have been announced, although the actual location of the original monument remains in dispute.<ref name=Williams-2015-12-26>{{cite news |last = Williams |first = Kate |date = 26 December 2015 |title = Rhodes reconstruction project will be a colossal gamble for Greece – but it might well pay off |newspaper = [[The Guardian]] |url = https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/27/greece-colossus-rhodes-new-project |access-date = 25 July 2016 |archive-date = 27 December 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151227004635/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/27/greece-colossus-rhodes-new-project |url-status = live }}</ref><ref name=Bennett-2016-01-07-PM>{{cite magazine |last = Bennett |first = Jay |date = 7 January 2016 |title = There's a plan to rebuild the Colossus of Rhodes |magazine = [[Popular Mechanics]] |url = http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a18877/architects-want-to-rebuild-colossus-of-rhodes |access-date = 25 July 2016 |archive-date = 25 July 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160725172414/http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a18877/architects-want-to-rebuild-colossus-of-rhodes/ |url-status = live }}</ref>

==Siege of Rhodes==
{{Main|Siege of Rhodes (305–304&nbsp;BC)}}
In the late fourth century BC, Rhodes, allied with [[Ptolemy I Soter|Ptolemy I of Egypt]], prevented a mass invasion staged by their common enemy, [[Antigonus I Monophthalmus]].

In 304&nbsp;BC, a relief force of ships sent by Ptolemy arrived, and [[Demetrius I of Macedon|Demetrius]] (son of Antigonus) and his army abandoned the siege, leaving behind most of their siege equipment. To celebrate their victory, the Rhodians sold the equipment left behind for 300 [[Attic talent|talents]]<ref name=Pliny-xxxiv-18>{{cite book |author=[[Pliny the Elder]] |title=[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]] |at=xxxiv.18}}</ref> and decided to use the money to build a colossal statue of their patron god, [[Helios]]. Construction was left to the direction of [[Chares of Lindos|Chares]], a native of Lindos in Rhodes, who had been involved with large-scale statues before. His teacher, the sculptor [[Lysippos]], had constructed a {{convert|22|m|ft|abbr=off|adj=mid|-high}}{{efn|Forty cubits high, according to [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]].<ref name=Pliny-xxxiv-18/>}} bronze statue of [[Zeus]] at [[Taranto|Tarentum]].

==Construction==
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2024}}{{ancient_seven_wonders_timeline.svg}}
[[File:Colosse de Rhodes (Barclay).jpg|thumb|Colossus of Rhodes, artist's impression, 1880]]
Construction began in 292&nbsp;BC. Ancient accounts, which differ to some degree, describe the structure as being built with iron tie bars to which bronze plates were fixed to form the skin. The interior of the structure, which stood on a {{convert|15|m|ft|-high|abbr=off|adj=mid}} white [[marble]] [[pedestal]] near the Rhodes harbour entrance, was then filled with stone blocks as construction progressed.<ref>Accounts of Philo of Byzantium ca. 150&nbsp;BC and Pliny (Plineus Caius Secundus) ca. 50 AD based on viewing the broken remains</ref> Other sources place the Colossus on a breakwater in the harbour. According to most contemporary descriptions, the statue itself was about 70 cubits, or {{convert|32|m|ft|abbr=off}} tall.<ref>{{cite web |department=Colossus of Rhodes |title=Description, location, & facts |date=April 2023 |website=britannica.com |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Colossus-of-Rhodes |access-date=2020-03-19 |archive-date=2020-09-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924152907/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Colossus-of-Rhodes |url-status=live }}</ref> Much of the iron and [[bronze]] was [[forging|reforged]] from the various weapons Demetrius's army left behind, and the abandoned second siege tower may have been used for [[scaffolding]] around the lower levels during construction.

[[Philo of Byzantium]] wrote in ''De septem mundi miraculis'' that Chares created the sculpture in situ by casting it in horizontal courses and then placing "...a huge mound of earth around each section as soon as it was completed, thus burying the finished work under the accumulated earth, and carrying out the casting of the next part on the level."<ref name=Vedder-2017>{{cite conference |last=Vedder |first=Ursula |year=2017 |title=Was the Colossus of Rhodes cast in courses or large sections? |editor-last=Daehner |editor-first=Jens |book-title=Artistry in Bronze: The Greeks and their legacy |conference=XIXth International Congress on Ancient Bronzes |publisher=J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Conservation Institute |location=Los Angeles, CA |page=25 |url=http://www.getty.edu/publications/artistryinbronze/large-scale-bronzes/2-vedder/ |access-date=2021-10-05 |archive-date=2021-10-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005211430/http://www.getty.edu/publications/artistryinbronze/large-scale-bronzes/2-vedder/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Modern engineers have put forward a hypothesis for the statue's construction (based on the technology of the time), and the accounts of Philo and Pliny, who saw and described the ruins.<ref>{{cite conference |conference=International Symposium on History of Machines and Mechanisms |year=2004 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4020-2203-6 |title=Engineering aspects of the collapse of the Colossus of Rhodes statue |pages=69–85 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tt9u67U8RW8C}}</ref>

The base pedestal was said to be at least {{convert|18|m|ft|abbr=off}} in diameter,{{according to whom|date=July 2024}} 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 {{convert|60|in|m|order=flip}} square with turned-in edges were joined by rivets through holes formed during casting to form a series of rings. The lower plates were {{convert|1|in|mm|order=flip}} in thickness to the knee and {{Convert|3/4|in|round=5|order=flip}} thick from knee to abdomen, while the upper plates were {{Convert|1/4|to|1/2|in|round=0.5|order=flip}} thick except where additional strength was required at joints such as the shoulder, neck, etc.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}

Archaeologist Ursula Vedder has proposed that the sculpture was cast in large sections following traditional Greek methods and that [[Philo of Byzantium|Philo]]'s account is "not compatible with the situation proved by archaeology in ancient Greece."<ref name=Vedder-2017/>

After twelve years, in 280&nbsp;BC, the statue was completed. Greek anthologies of poetry have preserved what is believed to be the dedication text on the Colossus.<ref>''Anthologia Graeca'' [https://archive.org/details/greekanthology01pato/page/386/mode/2up vi.171] (''cf.'' H. Beckby (Munich 1957))</ref><ref>Pat Wheatley, Charlotte Dunn, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ap_gDwAAQBAJ Demetrius the Besieger]'', Oxford University Press (2020), p. 443, note 1.</ref>

{{Verse translation
|lang1=grc | italicsoff = yes
|Αὐτῷ σοὶ πρὸς Ὄλυμπον ἐμακύναντο κολοσσὸν
:τόνδε Ῥόδου ναέται Δωρίδος, Ἀέλιε,
χάλκεον ἁνίκα κῦμα κατευνάσαντες Ἐνυοῦς
:ἔστεψαν πάτραν δυσμενέων ἐνάροις.
οὐ γὰρ ὑπὲρ πελάγους μόνον †κάτθεσαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν γᾷ,
:ἁβρὸν ἀδουλώτου φέγγος ἐλευθερίας·
τοῖς γὰρ ἀφ' Ἡρακλῆος ἀεξηθεῖσι γενέθλας
:πάτριος ἐν πόντῳ κἠν χθονὶ κοιρανία.
|lang2=en
|To thy very self, O Sun, did the people of Dorian Rhodes 
raise high to heaven this colossus, 
then, when having laid to rest the brazen wave of war, 
they crowned their country with the spoils of their foes. 
Not only over the sea, but on the land, too, 
did they establish the lovely light of unfettered freedom. 
For to those who spring from the race of Heracles 
dominion is a heritage both on land and sea.
|attr1=''The Greek Anthology'', [[William Roger Paton|W. R. Paton]], trans., William Heinemann, London (1916), vol. I, p. 387.
}}

==Collapse (226&nbsp;BC)==
[[File:rhodes0211.jpg|right|thumb|Artist's conception from the [[Grolier|Grolier Society]]'s 1911 ''Book of Knowledge'']]
{{further|226 BC Rhodes earthquake}}
The statue stood for 54 years until a 226&nbsp;BC earthquake caused significant damage to large portions of Rhodes, including the harbour and commercial buildings, which were destroyed.<ref name="bozeman">{{cite book |title=Politics and Culture in International History: From the Ancient Near East to the Opening of the Modern Age |last=Bruemmer Bozeman |first=Adda |year=1994 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |isbn=1-56000-735-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/politicsculturei00adda/page/108 108] |url=https://archive.org/details/politicsculturei00adda|url-access=registration }}</ref> The statue snapped at the knees and fell over onto land. [[Ptolemy III Euergetes|Ptolemy III]] offered to pay for the reconstruction of the statue, but the [[Pythia|Oracle of Delphi]] made the Rhodians fear that they had offended Helios, and they declined to rebuild it.<ref name=":0" />

==Fallen state (226&nbsp;BC to 653&nbsp;AD)==
The remains lay on the ground for over 800 years and, even broken, they were so impressive that many travelled to see them.

The remains were described briefly by [[Strabo]] (64 or 63&nbsp;BC – {{circa|24&nbsp;AD}}), in his work Geography (Book XIV, Chapter 2.5). Strabo was a Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian who lived in [[Asia Minor]] during the transitional period of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.
Strabo is best known for his work ''Geographica'' ("Geography"), which presented a descriptive history of people and places from different regions of the world known during his lifetime.<ref>{{cite book |author=Strabo |author-link=Strabo |year=1949 |title=Geography |section=34 Vol. VIII Book XVII  |translator=Horace Leonard Jones |place=London, UK |publisher=William Heinemann |page=95}}</ref> Strabo states that:

{{blockquote|text=The city of the Rhodians lies on the eastern promontory of Rhodes; and it is so far superior to all others in harbours and roads and walls and improvements in general that I am unable to speak of any other city as equal to it, or even as almost equal to it, much less superior to it. It is remarkable also for its good order, and for its careful attention to the administration of affairs of state in general; and in particular to that of naval affairs, whereby it held the mastery of the sea for a long time and overthrew the business of piracy, and became a friend to the Romans and to all kings who favoured both the Romans and the Greeks. Consequently, it not only has remained autonomous but also has been adorned with many votive offerings, which for the most part are to be found in the Dionysium and the gymnasium, but partly in other places. The best of these are, first, the Colossus of Helius, of which the author of the iambic verse says, "seven times ten cubits in height, the work of Chares the Lindian"; but it now lies on the ground, having been thrown down by an earthquake and broken at the knees. In accordance with a certain oracle, the people did not raise it again. This, then, is the most excellent of the votive offerings (at any rate, it is by common agreement one of the Seven Wonders).<ref>{{cite book |title=Geography |author=[[Strabo]] |section=Book XIV, Chapter 2.5 |section-url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/14B*.html |via=Penelope, [[University of Chicago|U. Chicago]] |access-date=8 December 2020 |archive-date=21 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521125801/http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/14B%2A.html |url-status=live }}</ref> }}

[[Pliny the Elder]] (AD 23/24 – 79) was a Roman author, a naturalist and natural philosopher, a naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of emperor [[Vespasian]]. Pliny wrote the encyclopedic ''Naturalis Historia'' (Natural History), which became an editorial model for encyclopedias. The ''Naturalis Historia'' is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge. Pliny remarked:

{{blockquote|text= But that which is by far the most worthy of our admiration, is the colossal statue of the Sun, which stood formerly at Rhodes, and was the work of Chares the Lindian, a pupil of the above-named Lysippus; no less than seventy cubits in height. This statue fifty-six years after it was erected, was thrown down by an earthquake; but even as it lies, 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.<ref>{{cite book |title=Natural History |at=book 34, xviii, 41 |section=Natural History of Metals |section-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D34%3Achapter%3D18 |via=Perseus, [[Tufts University|Tufts U.]] |access-date=2020-12-07 |archive-date=2020-12-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231050757/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D34%3Achapter%3D18 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

==Destruction of the remains==
The ultimate fate of the remains of the statue is uncertain. Rhodes has two serious earthquakes per century, owing to its location on the seismically unstable [[Hellenic arc]]. [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] mentions in the ''[[Description of Greece|Descriptio Graeciae]]'', writing ca. 174, how the city was so devastated by an earthquake that the [[sibyl]] oracle foretelling its destruction was considered fulfilled.<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] |title=Descriptio Graeciae |at=II.vii.1, VIII.xliii.4}}</ref> This means the statue could not have survived for long if it had ever been repaired. By the 4th century [[Historiography of Christianization of the Roman Empire|Rhodes was Christianized]], so any further maintenance or rebuilding, if there ever was any before, on an ancient pagan statue is unlikely. The metal would probably have been used for coins and maybe also tools by the time of the [[Arab–Byzantine wars|Arab wars]], especially during earlier conflicts such as the [[Byzantine–Sasanian wars|Sasanian wars]].<ref name=Conrad-1996>{{cite journal |last=Conrad |first=L.I. |date= July 1996 |title= The Arabs and the Colossus |journal= Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |volume= 6 |issue= 2 |pages=165–187 |doi=10.1017/S1356186300007173 |jstor=25183179 |s2cid= 163298319}}</ref>{{rp|style=ama|pp= 179–186}}

The onset of [[Early Caliphate navy|Islamic naval incursions]] against the [[Byzantine Empire]] gave rise to a dramatic account of what became of the Colossus. In 653, an Arab force under Muslim general [[Mu'awiya I]] raided Rhodes, and according to the ''Chronicle'' of [[Theophanes the Confessor]],<ref name="Constantine-VII-xx–xxi"/> the remains of the statue constituted part of the booty, being melted down and sold to a Jewish merchant of [[Edessa]] who loaded the bronze onto 900&nbsp;camels.<ref name=Clarendon-1997/> The same story is recorded by [[Bar Hebraeus]], writing in [[Syriac alphabet|Syriac]] in the 13th century in Edessa<ref name=Budge-1932/> (after the Arab pillage of Rhodes): "And a great number of men hauled on strong ropes which were tied around 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" (the Syrian city of [[Homs]]).<ref name=Budge-1932>{{cite book |last=Budge |first=E.A. Wallis |year=1932 |title=The Chronography of Gregory Abu'l-Faraj |volume=I |page=98 |publisher=APA – Philo Pres |place=Amsterdam, NL }}</ref>

Ultimately, Theophanes is the sole source of this account, and all other sources can be traced to him.<ref name=Conrad-1996/>{{rp|style=ama|pp= 169–174}} As Theophanes' source was Syriac, it may have had vague information about a raid and attributed the statue's demise to it, not knowing much more. Or the Arab destruction and the purported sale to a Jew may have been a metaphor for [[Daniel 2|Nebuchadnezzar's dream]] of the destruction of a great statue.<ref name=Conrad-1996/>{{rp|style=ama|pp= 165–187}}

Given the likely previous neglect of the remains and various opportunities for authorities to have repurposed the metal, as well as the fact that, Islamic incursions notwithstanding, the island remained an important Byzantine strategic point well into the ninth century, an Arabic raid is unlikely to have found much, if any, remaining metal to carry away. For these reasons, as well as the negative perception of the [[Early Muslim conquests|Arab conquests]], L.I. Conrad considers Theophanes' story of the dismantling of the statue as likely propaganda, like the destruction of the [[Library of Alexandria]].<ref name=Conrad-1996/>{{rp|style=ama|pp= 179–186}}

==Posture==
[[File:Colossus of Rhodes.jpg|thumb|From the 1572 ''[[Octo Mundi Miracula]]'', the earliest known representation of the Colossus in modern times.]]
The harbour-straddling Colossus was a figment of [[medieval]] imaginations based on the dedication text's mention of "over land and sea" twice and the writings of an Italian visitor who in 1395 noted that local tradition held that the right foot had stood where the church of St John of the Colossus was then located.<ref name=Jordan>{{cite book |last=Jordan |first=Paul |year=2014 |title=Seven Wonders of the Ancient World |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=9781317868859 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/sevenwondersofan0000jord/page/21 21–149] |url=https://archive.org/details/sevenwondersofan0000jord/page/21}}</ref> Many later illustrations show the statue with one foot on either side of the harbour mouth with ships passing under it. References to this conception are also found in literary works. [[William Shakespeare]]'s Cassius in ''[[Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caesar]]'' (I, ii, 136–38) says of Caesar:

{{poemquote|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}}

Shakespeare alludes to the Colossus also in ''[[Troilus and Cressida]]'' (V.5) and in ''[[Henry IV, Part 1]]'' (V.1).

"[[The New Colossus]]" (1883), a sonnet by [[Emma Lazarus]] written on a cast bronze plaque and mounted inside the pedestal of the [[Statue of Liberty#Inscriptions, plaques, and dedications|Statue of Liberty]] in 1903, contrasts the latter with:

{{poemquote|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 [[John Lemprière|Lemprière]]'s ''[[Bibliotheca Classica|Classical Dictionary]]''. If the completed statue had straddled the harbour, then the entire mouth of the harbour would have been effectively closed during the entirety of the construction, and the ancient Rhodians would not have had the means to dredge and re-open the harbour after construction was finished. Additionally, the fallen statue would have blocked the harbour, and since the ancient Rhodians did not have the ability to remove the fallen statue from the harbour, it would not have remained visible on land for the next 800&nbsp;years, as discussed above. Even neglecting these objections, the statue was made of bronze, and engineering analyses indicate that it could not have been built with its legs apart without collapsing under its own weight.<ref name="Jordan" />

Many researchers have considered alternative positions for the statue which would have made it more feasible for actual construction by the ancients.<ref name=Jordan/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greatest-unsolved-mysteries.com/colossus-of-rhodes.html |title=The Colossus of Rhodes |website=greatest-unsolved-mysteries.com |access-date=2010-07-17 |archive-date=2010-07-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715074135/http://www.greatest-unsolved-mysteries.com/colossus-of-rhodes.html |url-status=live }}</ref> There is also no evidence that the statue held a torch aloft; the records simply say that after completion, the Rhodians kindled the "torch of freedom". A [[relief]] in a nearby temple shows Helios standing with one hand shielding his eyes (as if saluting) and it is quite possible that the colossus was constructed in the same pose.<ref name="Jordan" />

[[File:Rhodes Didrachm Helios 305-275 BCE.jpg|thumb|Rhodes Didrachm (305–275 BCE) showing the Sun God Helios on obverse and rose with rose bud and grape cluster on the reverse.]]
While scholars do not know what the statue looked like, they do have a good idea of what the head and face looked like, as it was of a standard rendering at the time. The head would have had curly hair, similar to the images found on contemporary Rhodian coins.<ref name=Jordan/>

==Possible locations==
[[File:Mandraki colosseus harbour rhodes.jpg|thumb|The old harbour entrance from inner embankment. The [[Fortifications of Rhodes#Tower and Fort of Saint Nicholas|Fortress of St Nicholas]] is on the right.]]
While scholars generally agree that anecdotal depictions of the Colossus straddling the harbour's entry point have no historic or scientific basis,<ref name="Jordan" /> the monument's actual location remains a matter of debate. As mentioned above the statue is thought locally to have stood where two pillars now stand at the Mandraki port entrance.

The floor of the [[Fortifications of Rhodes#Tower and Fort of Saint Nicholas|Fortress of St Nicholas]], near the harbour entrance, contains a circle of sandstone blocks of unknown origin or purpose. Curved blocks of marble that were incorporated into the Fortress structure, but are considered too intricately cut to have been quarried for that purpose, have been posited as the remnants of a marble base for the Colossus, which would have stood on the sandstone block foundation.<ref name="Jordan" />

[[File:Temple Apollon Rhodes.jpg|thumb|Stone foundation and partially-reconstructed temple ruins at the apex of the [[Acropolis of Rhodes]]]]
Archaeologist Ursula Vedder postulates that the Colossus was not located in the harbour area at all, but rather was part of the [[Acropolis of Rhodes]], which stood on a hill that overlooks the port area. The ruins of a large temple, traditionally thought to have been dedicated to Apollo, are situated at the highest point of the hill. Vedder believes that the structure would actually have been a Helios sanctuary, and a portion of its enormous stone foundation could have served as the supporting platform for the Colossus.<ref>{{cite web |title=Koloss von Rhodos: Standort entdeckt! |quote=Exklusiv in P.M. History: Sensationelle Theorie der Münchner |agency=Pressemitteilung Gruner+Jahr, P.M. History |website=presseportal.de |date=April 2008 |url=http://www.presseportal.de/pm/55502/1174399/gruner_jahr_p_m_history/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511043528/http://www.presseportal.de/pm/55502/1174399/gruner_jahr_p_m_history/ |archive-date=2008-05-11}}</ref>

==Modern Colossus projects==
In 2008, ''[[The Guardian]]'' reported that a modern Colossus was to be built at the harbour entrance by the German artist Gert Hof leading a [[Cologne]]-based team. It was to be a giant light sculpture made partially out of melted-down weapons from around the world. It would cost up to €200&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Helena |date=2008-11-17 |title=Colossus of Rhodes to be rebuilt as giant light sculpture |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |language=en-GB |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/nov/17/colossus-rhodes-greece-sculpture |access-date=2017-12-07 |archive-date=2019-07-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715002325/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/nov/17/colossus-rhodes-greece-sculpture |url-status=live }}</ref>

In December 2015, a group of European architects announced plans to build a modern Colossus bestriding two piers at the harbour entrance, despite a preponderance of evidence and scholarly opinion that the original monument could not have stood there.<ref name=Williams-2015-12-26/><ref name=Bennett-2016-01-07-PM/> The new statue, {{Convert|150|m}} tall (five times the height of the original), would cost an estimated US$283 million, funded by private donations and [[crowdsourcing]]. The statue would include a cultural centre, a library, an exhibition hall, and a lighthouse, all powered by solar panels.<ref name=Bennett-2016-01-07-PM/> No such plans were carried out, however, and the website for the project went offline.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-02-13 |title=Colossus of Rhodes Project 2015 |url=http://colossusrhodes.com/colossus_of_rhodes_project_2015/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160213100543/http://colossusrhodes.com/colossus_of_rhodes_project_2015/ |archive-date=2016-02-13 |access-date=2023-01-09 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Twelve Metal Colossi]]
* [[The Colossus of Rhodes (Dalí)|''The Colossus of Rhodes'' (Dalí)]]
* [[The Colossus of Rhodes (film)|''The Colossus of Rhodes'' (Sergio Leone)]]
* ''[[The New Colossus]]''
* ''[[The Rhodes Colossus]]''
* [[List of tallest statues]]
* [[List of tallest structures built before the 20th century]]

==References==
===Notes===
{{notelist}}

===References===
{{reflist|25em}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin|colwidth=25em|small=yes}}
* {{cite book |last=Ashley |first=James R. |year=2004 |title=The Macedonian Empire: The era of warfare under Philip&nbsp;II and Alexander the Great, 359-323&nbsp;B.C. |publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn=0-7864-1918-0 |page=75 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nTmXOFX-wioC |access-date=2017-10-05 |archive-date=2024-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521130348/https://books.google.com/books?id=nTmXOFX-wioC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite journal |last=Gabriel |first=Albert |year=1932 |title=[no title cited] |journal=Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique |volume=56 |pages=331–359|doi=10.3406/bch.1932.2843 }}
* {{cite journal |author-link=Herbert Maryon |last=Maryon |first=H. |year=1956 |title=The Colossus of Rhodes |journal=The Journal of Hellenic Studies |volume=76 |pages=68–86 |doi=10.2307/629554 |jstor=629554 }} — sculptor's speculations on the Colossus of Rhodes.
* {{cite journal |last=Haynes |first=D.E.L. |year=1957 |title=Philo of Byzantium and the Colossus of Rhodes |journal=The Journal of Hellenic Studies |volume=77 |issue=2 |pages=311–312 |doi=10.2307/629373 |jstor=629373 }} — a response to Maryon (1956).
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{commons category|Colossus of Rhodes}}
{{NSRW Poster|Colossus of Rhodes}}
{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Colossus of Rhodes }}
* {{cite book |last=Higgins |first=Michael Denis |year=2023 |title=The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: Science, engineering, and technology |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1976-4815-5 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Higgins |first1=Michael Denis |date=2024 |title=An Alternative Timeline for the Colossus of Rhodes|url=https://anetoday.org/colossus-of-rhodes/ |journal=The Ancient Near East Today |volume=12 |issue=12 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Jones |first=Kenneth R. |year=2014 |title=Alcaeus of Messene, Philip&nbsp;V and the Colossus of Rhodes: A re-examination of Anth. Pal.&nbsp;6.171 |journal=The Classical Quarterly |volume=64 |issue=1 |pages=136–151 |doi=10.1017/S0009838813000591 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Romer |first1=John |first2=Elizabeth |last2=Romer |year=1995 |title=The Seven Wonders of the World: A history of the modern imagination |edition=1st American |place=New York, NY |publisher=Henry Holt}}
* {{cite journal |last=Woods |first=David |year=2016 |title=On the alleged Arab destruction of the Colossus of Rhodes c.&nbsp;653 |journal=Byzantion: Revue Internationale des Études Byzantines |volume=86 |pages=441–451 }}

{{Seven Wonders of the Ancient World}}
{{Sculptures}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Colossus Of Rhodes}}
[[Category:Colossus of Rhodes| ]]
[[Category:Ancient Rhodes]]
[[Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Greece]]
[[Category:Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]]
[[Category:Ancient Greece in art and culture]]
[[Category:Hellenistic architecture]]
[[Category:Hellenistic and Roman bronzes]]
[[Category:Lost sculptures]]
[[Category:Culture of Rhodes]]
[[Category:Helios]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek metalwork]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Rhodes (city)]]
[[Category:3rd-century BC religious buildings and structures]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures demolished in the 3rd century BC]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek and Roman colossal statues]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures destroyed by earthquakes]]
[[Category:Demetrius I Poliorcetes]]