Colossus of Rhodes turaco. Statue of Helios. Colossus of Rhodes, photo. Wonder of the world. Statue of the Colossus. Where did the statue stand?

The words “colossus” and “colossal” are firmly rooted in the Russian language and are used to denote something very large, gigantic. But we usually don’t think about their original meaning. The ancient Greeks called huge statues that were significantly larger than human height colossi. After seeing the giant statues in Egypt, they began to create them themselves. One of the first to be built was a statue of the god Apollo, 13 meters high, in Amykla. But the most revered statue in Greece was the statue of the sun god Helios on the island of Rhodes, which became one of the seven wonders of the world, known to us as the Colossus of Rhodes.

The island of Rhodes at the end of the 4th century BC. e. was one of the richest and most powerful Greek states. Trade was the main source of wealth for the island's inhabitants. Being skilled sailors, the Rhodians boldly went on trade business to distant lands and countries. They sailed to Africa, Sicily and even to the northern shores of the Black Sea.

The wealth and prosperity of Rhodes could not go unnoticed by those who craved power. Moreover, after the death of Alexander the Great, his commanders began to fight for the division of the state. Everyone sought to seize the richest lands.

• Seleucus settled in Babylonia,
• Ptolemy - in Egypt,
• Antigonus - in Syria and Western Asia.
• And the son of Antigonus, Demetrius, who became a famous commander, drew attention to the riches of Rhodes.

On what occasion did the statue appear?

Demetrius demanded help from the inhabitants of Rhodes in the fight against Egypt. But they refused, since trade relations had been established with Egypt: it was there that the inhabitants of the island purchased most of the grain.

Outraged by the refusal, Demetrius sent a fleet to the island and began a siege. During the siege, battering guns and throwing machines were widely used. Helepol was first used under the walls of Rhodes.

Helepole is a siege engine invented by the Athenian architect Epimachus. It was a huge tower 40 meters high and 15 meters wide, which was served by 3,400 people. At its lower part there was a battering ram for breaking through walls and gates. And on the upper floors there were archers and throwing machines. The Gelepol was lined with dense sheets of iron, which protected the soldiers in it. From this structure, the attackers could fire at the city almost unhindered.

Helepole inflicted great damage on the defenders of Rhodes. But the Rhodians continued to defend themselves and even made bold forays, destroying battering machines. At night they restored the destroyed walls and again took up defensive positions. Egypt and other allies assisted them by delivering food and equipment by sea.

The siege of Rhodes lasted a year and did not bring success. Demetrius' enemies, taking advantage of the fact that he started a war on the island, began to attack the lands he had captured. And the commander hastened to make peace with the Rhodians, who perceived this as a victory.

Under the terms of the treaty, they became allies of Demetrius, but refused war with Egypt. The siege was lifted, and Helepol went to the Rhodians. In memory of their victory, the Rhodians decided to create a giant statue of the god Helios, the patron saint of the island.

Patron Saint of Rhodes

According to legend, the sun god Helios, not having a single place dedicated to him in all of Greece, with the consent of the gods, raised the island of Rhodes from the depths of the sea. Therefore, the inhabitants of the island especially revered this god. They minted his image on their coins and built temples in his honor, in which they installed statues of Helios.

But the new statue of the patron god was supposed to surpass all the previous ones in beauty and grandeur. At the public meeting, it was decided to sell the siege engines obtained as a result of the victory, and with the money received, to erect a new bronze statue of Helios.

Bronze statues were created using casting techniques. The construction of such a statue itself required considerable expense and great skill. First, a copy of the future sculpture was molded from clay. Then a layer of wax was applied to it. The thickness of this layer corresponded to what the thickness of bronze should have been. After this, the figure was again covered with clay on top of the wax layer.

It was the top layer that served as the mold for the future statue: a hole was left on top for pouring metal and on the sides for air to escape. The mold was then heated and the wax was allowed to drain. To enhance strength, the clay mold was fired. And only after that the bronze was poured into the resulting mold. After the metal cooled, the clay mold was broken, and the resulting statue was polished with special tools.

The masters who created the Colossus of Rhodes

It is believed that the Greeks began casting metal statues in the 7th century BC. e. The first sculptures were quite primitive, but gradually the craftsmen improved their casting techniques. One of the famous Greek sculptors was Myron of Eleuthera. It is he who owns the statue of a young man – the discus thrower “Disco Thrower”. A marble copy of it has survived to this day.

No less famous were the works of the self-taught master Lysippos from Sikyon. He created huge statues and entire sculptural compositions from bronze. According to the books of ancient authors, Lysippos has about 1.5 thousand different statues. Moreover, he began his career as a helper in a workshop. It was the sculptural portraits by Lysippos that Alexander the Great valued more than others. Lysippos cast a giant statue of Zeus (about 20 meters in height), which was considered the largest in Greece until his student Chares from the Rhodes city of Linda created a giant statue of Helios.

Construction of the statue did not begin immediately. At first, the inhabitants of the island restored everything destroyed during the hostilities. Only then did the creation of the Colossus begin. The work lasted 12 years. The news of the giant statue quickly spread throughout the Hellenistic world. Merchants who visited the island spoke of a huge statue 70 cubits high (approximately 35 meters).

After the creation of the statue of Helios, the Rhodian craftsmen also began to make giant statues. There were about 100 of them on the island. But no one could surpass the Colossus created by Khares. True, the Colossus stood for a very short time, about 60 years.

Destroying the statue

In 220 BC. e. A strong earthquake occurred on the island, causing much destruction and killing many people. It also crushed the Colossus: breaking his knees, he fell to the ground.

The disaster that struck the island of Rhodes did not leave its neighbors indifferent. Many states connected with him by close trade and friendly relations came to the rescue. Rich gifts came from Syria, Macedonia, Sicily, and Bithynia. The rulers of many countries temporarily exempted the Rhodians from paying duties. And the Egyptian king Ptolemy sent funds and experienced craftsmen to restore the Colossus.

But all the efforts and expenses were in vain: it was not possible to raise the statue. They could not do this at a later time either. The remains of the giant statue were left in the same place and continued to attract the attention of guests and travelers, amazed by its size.

In the 1st century AD e. The Roman writer Pliny the Elder, visiting Rhodes, could not hide his admiration. He noted that most people cannot even wrap both hands around the thumb of the bronze Helios. The fragments of the statue lay on the ground for more than a thousand years, until 977, when the Arabs, who by that time had occupied Rhodes, sold them to some merchant, who, according to one of the chronicles, loaded them with 900 camels. Since then, traces of the Colossus have been lost.

• Firstly, neither her appearance nor the place where she stood is known.
• And secondly, it is not clear how exactly it was created. After all, it is clear that it was simply impossible to cast such a huge statue entirely.

What the Colossus of Rhodes looked like

Nevertheless, scientists are trying to find answers to all these questions. For example, it was possible to find out with a high degree of probability what the statue of Helios looked like. During archaeological excavations, a fragment of a bas-relief depicting Helios dating back to the 2nd century BC was found. e.

Scientists are inclined to assume that it was copied from the statue of the Colossus of Rhodes. Consequently, the famous statue depicted the Sun God as a youth with a crown of rays on his head. The deity’s right hand is applied to his forehead, as if he is peering into the distance, and his left hand holds the veil falling to the ground.

Colossus of Rhodes (Helios statue)

This pose, somewhat unusual for a solar deity, has been explained by scientists. They believe that the sculptor did not depict Helios with his arms solemnly extended forward or upward, since he understood that without additional support the arms would simply break off under their own weight. The blanket falling to the ground behind the statue’s back acted as a kind of stand, giving it additional stability.

As for the location, scientists proceeded from the fact that such a gigantic statue required a lot of space around it. At the same time, it should not obscure other architectural structures. Therefore, the best place for her was probably the harbor, from where the bronze giant greeted all sailors from afar.

How the statue was made. Version

It was originally assumed that the statue was cast. But then this began to raise doubts, since it was easy to cast such a huge sculpture entirely with the then existing level of technology
impossible. Moreover, even if this could be done, the statue would be so heavy that installing it in the chosen place would be very problematic.

The English sculptor Marion tried to find out how the statue of Helios was created. To begin with, he carefully studied all the information about the Colossus from ancient sources. Most of them contain only mentions, but some contain more detailed information. For example, Philo of Byzantium reports that the production of the statue required 500 talents of bronze and 300 talents of iron, which, in terms of our usual measure of weight, is 13 tons of bronze and almost 8 tons of iron.

Based on this information, Marion calculated the thickness of the bronze sheet covering the Colossus and came to the conclusion that it was not cast. When creating it, bronze sheets 1.5 millimeters thick were used.

Marion suggested that at the site chosen for the installation of the statue, three stone pillars were dug in, from which iron bars extended. Iron rims were strung on the beams. This structure was the frame of the statue, on which the bronze plates were attached. Consequently, the sculpture was installed gradually, from bottom to top, tier by tier. When it was necessary to carry out work at a height exceeding the height of a person, they began to pour an earthen mound around the statue, which hid the already created tiers and made it possible to rise to the level necessary for work.

Where is that hill?

A flooring of planks was constructed on the slopes of the hill, and the corresponding tier of the statue was being assembled. The statue itself at that moment was in an earthen pit, lined with boards that protected the finished part from the earth poured around it. The stone pillars, iron rods and rims that served as the frame also gradually grew upward. They had to be reached along shaky bridges. The work was quite dangerous and labor-intensive. Workers risked falling and injuring themselves on the metal bars. The task of the sculptor, who had to assemble individual sections, like puzzles or cubes in a children's puzzle, was also difficult.

In order not to mix up and correctly join the fragments, Hares probably first created a human-sized model of the statue from plaster or clay. With the help of this model, he most likely demonstrated his plan to the Rhodians and used it to create the Colossus. All details of the fragment were transferred from the clay model to a life-size plaster surface, and then wooden templates were made from the plaster model, according to which bronze sheets were minted, achieving compliance with the plaster cast. The cooled and polished bronze part was lifted and fixed in the right place on the iron frame, then the seams were sealed.

After the statue was completely mounted, the earthen mound was razed, and the platform on which it was located was lined with marble slabs. It is not unusual that the Colossus took so many years to complete. About 100 artisans of various specializations and several hundred slaves took part in the creation of the statue. Even in our time, with the modern level of technology, the statue of Helios can be considered gigantic. After all, it is three times taller than the Bronze Horseman in St. Petersburg. It is not surprising that in ancient times it was considered one of the seven wonders of the world.

It was compiled 2000 years ago by a Greek scribe. He believed that they could not be destroyed. The modern world is still fascinated by this magical list.

The Colossus of Rhodes occupies a place of honor in it. The people of the island erected this statue in gratitude to the god Helios for his intercession during the year-long siege of the city by an army of forty thousand.

Where is the Colossus of Rhodes located?

Now nowhere. But, as already mentioned, according to legend, it was built on and was visible far from the sea. It was here, according to the testimony of ancient writers, that the statue was located: the second sun met face to face with the first. It was created around 280 BC. e. student Kares. And although the Colossus of Rhodes fell more than 60 years later, they say that even the ruins on the ground were impressive. Eventually, the statue was destroyed by Arab soldiers and sold to Syria stone by stone.

Today it is impossible to find even traces of the place where she stood. Classical scholars argue that statues of this type were usually located at the back of the temple. But in Rhodes, the temple of Helios is located on a hilltop in the center of the city, and no traces of the Colossus could be found there. Although thanks to this statement it was possible to discover another, no less important fact. It turned out that huge walls from the time of the Colossus surround the city and go down to the port. This proves that the harbor of Rhodes is largely of artificial origin. This means that the statue of the Colossus of Rhodes could be the end of the harbor wall, as in other ancient artificial harbors. She couldn't block the entrance to it. To do this, it must be a quarter of a mile high. But neither metal nor stone can withstand the stress that winter storms exert. Today, at the end of the harbor wall stands the medieval fortress of St. Nicholas. Half of it is made of stones hewn in ancient times. If you look closely at the pieces of marble that served as building material for this small fortress, you can understand that they were carved by masters from the time of the Colossus of Rhodes.

In the Middle Ages, people found new uses for them. The interesting thing about these stones is that they are not square. Each of them is a fragment of a 17-meter circle and has curves. 17 meters is the exact diameter of the tower inside the small fortress. It is possible that medieval architects began to build directly on the ancient foundation, which served as a pedestal for the fallen statue.

What was the Colossus of Rhodes like and how was it made?

The chronicler, in whose time the statue still stood, says that it was built on the same principle as a house. Fragments of other ancient figures demonstrate that they were constructed with the same skill as Phidias's Zeus. Piece by piece of a frame of steel and stone. The Colossus of Rhodes was covered with bronze sheets. As for the pose, no one actually knows whether he was standing, sitting, or, for example, driving a chariot. Although, you can try to find some hints in a copy of the statue made by Lysippos himself from marble for Alexander. But, most likely, the Colossus was not as tired and pompous as old Hercules. Rather, it was a young man with a beautiful face, the same as the head of the unnamed statue found in Rhodes, which gives us new insight. The peculiarity of this fragment is the presence of many identical holes in a circle. If you insert pins into them, you can see that they diverge symmetrically, like the sun's rays on the statue of Helios, that is, this is most likely his head. In addition, it dates back (within plus or minus 100 years) to the same time as the creation of the Colossus. If you look closely at the face, you can see the same slightly open mouth, turned neck, open eyes. One to one That is, the same school of sculptors that built the Colossus of Rhodes also created the image of the king, who later went around the whole world.

The Colossus of Rhodes is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and is a huge statue of a male figure built around 280 BC. and erected on the Greek island of Rhodes.

Until now, the history of the construction of the monument, as well as its destruction during the earthquake of 226 BC. covered with numerous secrets.

The ancients claim that the Colossus of Rhodes was intended as a thank you and gift to Helios, the sun god, and also as a symbol of the successful defense of Rhodes during the attack on the Greek island by King Demetrius Poliorcetes in 305 BC.

Legend has it that the people of Rhodes sold the weapons and equipment left behind by the Macedonians and spent all their earnings on building the statue.

Since ancient times, the small Greek island of Rhodes was the main link between the Aegean and Mediterranean seas, and an important economic, political and commercial center of the Ancient World.

The capital, also named Rhodes, was built in 408 BC and served as the island's natural harbor on the northern coast.

In 357 BC. the island was captured by Mausolus Halicarnassus, then in 340 BC. e. , and subsequently, in 332 BC, fell under the onslaught of the army of Alexander the Great. The fourth century BC became very significant for Rhodes: the inhabitants allied with Ptolemy I, king, against Antigonus I Monophthalmus of Macedonia.

In 305 BC. Antigonus sent his son Demetrius to destroy Rhodes for its political alliance with Egypt. The war, which lasted a year, ended with the defeat of Demetrius.

And, as we already know, in honor of the victory over the enemy, the inhabitants of Rhodes erected one of the tallest statues of the Ancient World.

Statue of the Colossus of Rhodes

According to Pliny the Elder, a Greek historian, the construction of the Colossus of Rhodes took 12 years. Hares, the sculptor, was given a condition: the statue must be taller than all known sculptures, and each finger of the Colossus must be larger than most statues.

Residents of the city were so surprised by the result of the sculptor Hares that they believed in the eternal life of the statue and its indestructibility.

From the notes of Hares from Lindos, it became known that the height of the statue of the Colossus of Rhodes was about 33 meters, and the creation was erected on a 15-meter pedestal. For comparison, the Great Pyramid of Giza, the only ancient miracle that has come down to us almost unchanged, was originally 146 meters high.

Another wonder of the world, the statue of Zeus at Olympia, created in the mid-fifth century BC, was about 12 meters in height.

The base of the Colossus was made of white marble, reinforced with a frame of iron and concrete and decorated with bronze plates.

According to some reports, about 15 tons of bronze were required to create the statue, as well as 9 tons of iron (although these figures are refuted by modern architects, who find them insufficient for the construction of a world-famous sculpture).

The sources also mention a poem that was engraved on the statue of the Colossus: To you, O Sun, the people of Rhodes dedicate this bronze statue, reaching all the way to Olympus.

By the way, the construction of the statue cost 300 talents (about 5 million dollars in modern money).

No one knows exactly what the Colossus statue looked like. We know that it was a man and that one of his hands was raised up.

Probably, the male figure was depicted without clothes or covered with cloth; on the head of the Colossus there could be a crown of sun rays (at least, this is how Helios was often depicted).

Some historians suggest that the Colossus held a torch in his hand, his legs were spread on both sides of the harbor, and ships passed under him (this image is depicted in an engraving by Maarten Heemskerk in the 16th century AD.

Destruction of the Colossus

In 226 BC, an earthquake struck Rhodes and the statue was destroyed. It is said that the Egyptian king Ptolemy III wanted to pay craftsmen to restore the Colossus. However, the inhabitants of Rhodes, after conversations with the oracle, decided not to build a new statue, as they were sure that this act would offend the real god, Helios.

In 653, Rhodes was captured by the Arabs, and, as is known from the Chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor, the remains of the statue were melted down and sold to a Jewish merchant from Edessa.

For 900 years, huge pieces of the broken statue were found along the beaches of Rhodes. The surprising fact is that even the fragments of the statue were so huge that it was impossible not to notice them. Now the remains of what was once the greatest miracle of the ancient world are kept in a museum, and every year several thousand tourists from all over the planet come to Rhodes to see the preserved ruins with their own eyes.

In 2008, the government of Rhodes announced its desire to create a new, even larger Colossus, but this remained only in plans.

A little more than half a century (56 years) passed from the construction of the statue to its destruction, but it was not only named one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The history of the monument, covered in legends and myths, has been exciting the minds of scientists around the world for two millennia. This is the legendary statue of the Colossus of Rhodes. The Colossus of Rhodes is a statue depicting the sun god Helios, the patron saint of Rhodes, who, as the inhabitants of the island believed, helped them survive the siege. Historians attribute its construction to 292 - 280. BC. Naturally, no photos of the legendary monument and one of the Seven Wonders of the World exist.

Colossus of Rhodes - an excursion into history

After the death of Alexander the Great, his huge empire - almost a world power - was divided between the king's associates, but there were disagreements. The most fierce struggle broke out between Antigonus (One-Eyed) and Ptolemy. The first took possession of almost all the lands in Asia Minor, the second - Egypt. What do these historical events have to do with the legendary statue of the Colossus of Rhodes? It was they who served as the main prerequisite for the construction of one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

The main income for the inhabitants of the island came from trade with Egypt, which categorically did not suit Antigonus, who sent his heir Demetrius to capture the capital of the island, Rhodes. The siege began in 305 BC. e., and its scale was impressive. Demetrius attacked Rhodes with 40,000 soldiers, the army included 200 military and 170 transport ships loaded with catapults, ammunition, and weapons.

The siege lasted almost a year; Rhodes, supported by Ptolemy, did not surrender. Demetrius retreated, abandoning siege weapons and all military equipment - “scrap metal” at the walls of Rhodes, all the money from the sale of which (300 talents) was decided to be spent on the construction of a giant statue of the Colossus of Rhodes.

History of the Colossus of Rhodes - interesting facts and legends

Even pictures depicting the Colossus of Rhodes, found in ancient archives, are strikingly different from one another. On some, the god Helios is depicted with a torch-lighthouse illuminating the sea strait. On others, the Colossus of Rhodes holds a cloak-veil in his hands. However, research that has been going on for more than 2000 years has made it possible to shed light on the semi-mythical statue of the Colossus of Rhodes itself, and on some points regarding its appearance and location.

It is reliably known that the construction of the Colossus of Rhodes was carried out by the student of the famous Greek sculptor Lysippos - Chares, and the work was carried out for about 12 years. According to some sources, the height of the Colossus of Rhodes - the god Helios - was 30 m, others call a higher figure - 36 m.

The main sources that allow us to more or less reliably present the legendary wonder of the world are the records of Pliny and Philo. However, in none of them is the Colossus of Rhodes described in detail - only the most general information, full of admiration for the greatness of the statue. What is known is that the main material for the construction of the Colossus of Rhodes was bronze. It is also reliably known that the statue stood for only 56 years; the reason for its destruction was an earthquake in Rhodes (222 BC).

Colossus of Rhodes - hypotheses about the location of the statue

So, the Colossus of Rhodes really existed. The questions that concern scientists concern exactly what it looked like, where it was installed, and what technology was used to build the huge statue, because even in our time the size of the Colossus of Rhodes is impressive.

There are two versions regarding the location of the statue depicting the god Helios. The first, recognized as a classic and recorded in numerous history textbooks, says that the Colossus of Rhodes stood directly on the shore of the harbor. This is evidenced by numerous pictures dating from different eras, in which the Colossus of Rhodes is depicted with its legs spread wide apart, between which ships sail. But, as modern research has convincingly proven, 2000 years ago it was technically impossible to install a statue of the Colossus of Rhodes over the entrance to the harbor.

The second hypothesis states that if the majestic Colossus of Rhodes depicted the sun god Helios, it was located directly next to his temple. If Helios is the patron saint of Rhodes, then his sanctuary was located in the very center of the capital of the island. It would seem that everything is correct, but the residents of Rhodes worshiped the statue and admired it, and if it was located in the very center of the city with fairly dense buildings, then it was simply not possible to examine the 36-meter-high Colossus of Rhodes. Plus, the architects of Ancient Greece really respected proportions, and obvious disproportion is not their style.

Which hypothesis is true? The question still remains open.

Colossus of Rhodes - versions of the construction of the statue

Philo of Byzantium wrote in great detail about how the statue of the Colossus of Rhodes was erected. But scientists have doubts about the veracity of the story; they believe, not without reason, that it was written at a later time. And not Philo at all, but a rhetorician, focusing on bronze casting technologies that were simply unknown in Ancient Greece.

There is a version that the statue of the Colossus of Rhodes was assembled in parts and was hollow. The voids were filled with stones and clay for stability - hence the second name of the statue “colossus with feet of clay.” This hypothesis does not contradict the technology that existed 2000 years ago, and it was precisely this that Hares could have used. Is it so? It is unknown, but the hypothesis is considered quite reliable.

So, the architect managed to create a giant statue, but what exactly did the image of the god Helios - the Colossus of Rhodes - look like?

Colossus of Rhodes - versions regarding appearance

It is quite natural to assume that the appearance of the Colossus of Rhodes corresponded to the canons accepted in Ancient Greece - a naked man of athletic build with the obligatory radiant halo crown on his head. This is exactly what the statues of the gods of Greece were like. But his pose depended solely on where he was located.

If the Colossus of Rhodes stood over the entrance to the harbor, then in his hand there would certainly be a torch, one of the lighthouses of the Mediterranean Sea. This is the classic version, and this is how Helios is depicted in numerous pictures. Ancient descriptions say that the sparkling statue of the Colossus of Rhodes was visible to sailors approaching the island.

If the Colossus of Rhodes stood in front of the temple of the god Helios, then the version that in his hand was not a torch-beacon, but a cloak-veil, also seems quite reliable. There are also such images of a semi-mythical statue.

However, all descriptions of the appearance of the Colossus of Rhodes agree that the head of the god was indeed decorated with a crown with rays and that he was a naked young man of athletic build.

Colossus of Rhodes - the defeated giant

An earthquake completely destroyed the majestic city in 226 BC. The Colossus of Rhodes could not withstand the tremors and was defeated. It is interesting that the statue broke at the knees, so the common expression “a colossus with feet of clay” is most likely associated with this event. Although there is a lot of debate on this topic.

No, the inhabitants of Rhodes did not leave the statue lying defeated, because Helios is the patron saint of the island. Attempts to restore the Colossus of Rhodes were made repeatedly, but without success. For almost 1000 years, the broken giant remained on the earth, but in 977 the bronze was sold for smelting. The “remains” of the Colossus of Rhodes were taken away on 900 camels, because more than 13 tons of expensive bronze and almost 8 tons of iron were spent on making the statue.

It’s interesting, but already 2 centuries after the Colossus of Rhodes was melted down, a fashion for large sculptures began in Rhodes and in Greece itself. It is believed that it was the legendary Colossus of Rhodes that became the prototype of the New York Statue of Liberty and the Statue of Christ the Savior in Rio de Janeiro.

In 2008, the Greek government announced its intention to restore the semi-mythical Colossus of Rhodes. But the modern god Helios will be even more majestic. It is expected that its height will reach 60-100 meters.

In contact with

Among the masterpieces of architecture and art of the ancient world, a special place is occupied by the so-called Seven Wonders of the World, described by the father of history Herodotus. The Colossus of Rhodes - the last of them in terms of creation - was a copper statue of enormous size, erected by the inhabitants of the island of Rhodes in honor of their patron, the god Helios. The appearance of this structure was supposed to testify to the greatness and power of the inhabitants of the island. However, fate did not prepare a long life for the statue, and to our time there are no traces left of it other than mentions in the works of ancient authors. Nevertheless, scientists continue to try to figure out what the Colossus of Rhodes actually looked like and where exactly it was located.

The background to the creation of the Colossus of Rhodes

The Colossus (from the Greek kolossos - “large statue”) of Rhodes was erected in honor of the victory of the inhabitants of the island of Rhodes over the descendant of one of the associates of Alexander the Great, the ruler of Central Asia, Demetrius Poliorcetes. The forty-thousand-strong army, equipped with the latest military technology of the time, was unable to take the city walls by storm. The pride of Poliorket, the huge siege engine of the Heleopolis, did not help them in this either. The iron-clad tower, equipped with rams and catapults, driven by three and a half thousand soldiers, was abandoned by Poliorcetes on the island, angry at the unsuccessful siege.

The inhabitants of Rhodes wanted to give thanks for the victory to their patron - the sun god Helios, who, according to legend, carried the island from the depths of the sea with his own hands. In addition, the sale of heleopolis and other siege structures brought the city huge money for those times - 300 talents of silver.

How the statue was made

The Colossus of Rhodes was erected in 290 BC. e., its construction took 12 years. The author of the project is Chares from Lida, a student of the famous Lysippos.

Bronze was chosen as the main material; more than 13 tons of it were used during construction. In addition, the sculptor used 8 tons of iron and a large number of stones. The pillars, fastened with iron beams, served as the base of the statue. An iron frame was “put on” the stone base, and bronze plates, cast one at a time, were attached to it.

As each row of shiny bronze sheets was attached to the frame, the height of the surrounding mound was increased so that workers could install the next row. Thus, it turned out that the unfinished Colossus of Rhodes was hidden from everyone under a layer of sand and stones, and only when the construction was completed, the embankment was dismantled, and the statue was revealed to the eyes of the curious in all its beauty and grandeur.

Colossus of Rhodes: description

What was so incredible that the inhabitants of Rhodes saw? The ancient Greek historians Pliny and Herodotus write about this. On a marble pedestal, the figure of a young athlete rose more than thirty meters high; the bronze shone brightly in the sun, which is why, on a clear day, sailors sailing to the island saw the Colossus of Rhodes before they saw the island itself.

Moreover, to give the statue of Helios an additional “sun-like” appearance, the face and wreath on the head of the statue were covered with gold. Historians do not give a clear answer to the question of what pose the sculptor gave to the patron god of the island: there is an opinion that he stood with his arm extended forward with a torch, which was used at night as a beacon.

Other experts object that in such a position the statue of the Colossus of Rhodes would simply collapse forward. In their opinion, Helios held the robe falling to the ground with one hand (which served as an additional point of support), and brought the other to his eyes, peering ahead.

Where was the statue?

It would seem that the answer is obvious - on the island of Rhodes. And this is undoubtedly true. This island is located in the Aegean Sea, near the coast of modern Turkey. But it is certainly not known where exactly the Rhodians erected a monument to such an important military victory for them.

There are two popular versions: the Colossus of Rhodes was located either in the center of the city, near the temple dedicated to Helios, or in the harbor, welcoming arriving ships. The first version seems less convincing, since in the cramped Greek polis it would not have been easy to find a place for such a giant, and even if they managed to place the statue there, then in order to enjoy the grandeur of the spectacle, the Rhodians would have to go to sea. As we know, “big things are seen from a distance.” So, most likely, the monument stood outside the city. But now one can only speculate about the exact location of the statue, as well as its appearance.

"Colossus with Feet of Clay"

The Colossus did not have long to glorify the greatness of the Rhodians and the skill of the sculptor: about sixty years. What happened in the twenties of the 3rd century BC. e. the earthquake destroyed the statue, which broke at the knees (that's where the famous proverb came from).

The fragments of the sculpture lay on the island for more than a thousand years, until in 977 AD. e. were not bought by the Arabs and taken out for smelting.

Colossus of Rhodes in our time

Unfortunately, neither the statue itself (even in the form of fragments), nor the drawings depicting it, or even detailed descriptions, have been preserved in history. However, artists of the past and present, with the strength of their talent and imagination, allow us to get at least an approximate idea of ​​this masterpiece, which combines the power of engineering science and the beauty of the art of architecture. Although, by historical standards, the huge statue on the island of Rhodes stood for a very short time (incomparably shorter than the Egyptian pyramids, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, and other wonders of the world), the Colossus of Rhodes firmly entered world culture.

And already today, work is underway to restore the Colossus of Rhodes - on the island of Rhodes they plan to erect a statue similar to the ancient one, but make it from luminous material.