THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES: A strong message with multiple recipients.

Its history begins in 305 BC, with the lengthy siege of Rhodes by Demetrios Poliorketes, one of Alexander the Great’s successors.

Against all expectations, mighty Demetrios failed to conquer the city, left in a hurry, and had to abandon his enormous and very expensive siege machines.

Purpose and construction.

Rhodians expressed their pride as well as their gratitude to their protector god Apollo by building a triumphal statue of Helios (the Sun). In the Hellenistic years (323 – 33 BC) Helios and Apollo were almost synonymous.

The equipment left behind by Demetrios was sold and the proceedings funded the project.

The task was assigned to the sculptor Chares of Lindos and took twelve years (from 304 to 292 BC) to be completed.

The base was made of white marble and the structure was gradually erected as the bronze form was fortified with an iron and stone framework. Skilled workers of the famous Rhodian foundries cast the outer bronze skin parts. To reach the higher parts, an earth ramp was built around the statue and was later removed.

When finished, it stood about 33 meters (110 ft) high. After it fell, Pliny the Elder wrote: "few people can make their arms meet round the thumb”.

The magnificent statue, constructed at the cost of the embarrassingly defeated Demetrios, in addition to its religious and spiritual significance, sent a more practical message, one carried by travelers to all the then known world: Rhodes can very effectively deter all enemies.

Indeed, it proved to be a very efficient defensive propaganda. It helped keep the city and the island safe for centuries, even after the earthquake had destroyed it.

Merely 66 years passed from the building to its destruction. Yet, the Colossus of Rhodes earned a place in the famous list of Wonders.

A strong earthquake hit Rhodes at around 226 BC. The city was badly damaged, and the Colossus was broken at its weakest point, the knees.

The Rhodians received an immediate offer from Ptolemy III of Egypt to cover all restoration costs for the toppled monument. However, an oracle from Delphi (Apollo’s famous temple) forbade the re-erection.

“Do not disturb what is laying” was the oracle and Rhodians followed it to the letter. They believed that the god had been offended by their impressive representation of him, and Ptolemy's offer was declined.

For almost a millennium, the statue remained broken in ruins. "Even laying on the ground, it is a marvel", said Pliny. In AD 654, the Arabs invaded Rhodes. They disassembled the remains of the broken Colossus and sold them to a Jew from Syria. It is said that the fragments had to be transported to Syria on the backs of 900 camels.

Where did the Colossus stand?

It has long been believed, shown, and written (as in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar) that the Colossus stood in front of one of the five harbours of Rhodes (now named Mandraki), straddling its entrance.

Given the height of the statue and the width of the harbour’s mouth, this would have been impossible. Moreover, because of the oracle, the fallen Colossus would have blocked the entrance for 900 years.

Recent studies suggest that its location was further inland.

Some believe that it stood where the Palace of the Grand Masters now is. It is a location slightly higher than the harbours, where ruins of an Apollo temple have been found.

Others suggest that the Colossus was part of the Acropolis of Rhodes, the hill overlooking the city and big part of the island.

The Acropolis was a world-famous cultural, political, and athletic center, adorned with beautiful buildings, structures, and thousands of statues. Among others, a large temple dedicated to Apollo, who’s ruins can be still visited, was situated near the top.

There was no better location for the Colossus to be seen by aspiring conquerors and remind them of why and at who’s expense it was placed there.

The hill’s highest plateau is visible by all approaching ships (of friends and enemies), as well as from the coast of Asia Minor, where raids against Rhodes were often launched from.

Shrewd international traders, with a universally accepted currency, the Rhodians would not have invested such resources and effort in erecting Colossus on a less observable and effective location.

What was its appearance?

Although regarded as a masterpiece of art and engineering, its true shape and appearance are not known. Modern reconstructions with the statue standing upright are more accurate than older drawings.

Bronze was chosen with care to build the Colossus. Stronger than iron, it can resist nature’s elements, and, of course, the corrosive spray of the surrounding Aegean Sea.

The “Colossus” today.

The ancient Greek colossi (plural) were statues of gigantic size and proportions. In a metaphorical sense, persons, structures, and things of immense size or power.

Because of the most known of the colossi, the one of Rhodes, the word and its derivatives have always been used to signify anybody or anything of extreme dimensions or qualities.

In a more tangible way, the ancient World Wonder inspires modern artists to produce works of magnitude and beauty, such as the French sculptor Bartholdi and his New York’s Statue of Liberty.