7 Wonders of the Ancient World: The Colossus of Rhodes

The Colossus of Rhodes was one of the tallest statues of the ancient world, standing at 107 feet. It was constructed at the city of Rhodes, on the island of Rhodes, between 292 and 280 BC. The artist, Chares of Lindos, was a native of Rhodes and a student of Lysippus (personal sculptor to Alexander the Great).

Although Chares of Lindos is credited with creating the Colossus of Rhodes, many suspect that he did not survive to ever see his greatest project finished. Most of the theories and stories surrounding Chares’ death suggest that he committed suicide because of issues relating to the Colossus. The first story says that when interviewing for the Colossus contract Chares’ was asked his price for a statue fifty feet tall. After giving his answer he was then asked what the price would be for a statue doubled in height. Chares’ responded that is would be twice as much, however given pricing for materials, labor and other supplies the figure actually needed to be eight to nine times as much. This mistake in pricing drove Chares to financial bankruptcy, which led to his suicide. The other story of how Chares died is that during construction of the Colossus a flaw in the statue was pointed out to the artist, who upon hearing of the small issue became so distraught and ashamed that he killed himself.

Although the artwork may have been finished after the artist’s death, it still was completed masterfully. The Colossus is a statue representing the Titan Helios. A Titan, in Greek Mythology can refer to the Gods that came before the Greek Olympian Gods. Helios, known as a type of ‘Sun God’ or as the name given to the sun for personification, was often referred to as a Titan. The construction of the statue began as a creation to celebrate Rhodes victory of the ruler of Cyprus, Antigonus I Monophthalmus, after his attempt to obtain the city.

Although who the Colossus was is a known fact, how it was built, how it stood, and where it stood are all still up for debate. Some known facts about the construction are its height (107 feet) and that it was composed of iron, bronze and copper parts. It’s also suggested that the statue was constructed by building and completing a section and then surrounding that section with dirt, essentially burying it. This would continue after each section was completed and then, upon completion of the statue, all of the dirt was removed revealing the completed structure.

How the statue stood has been an image that has evolved over the ages. Originally it was thought that the statue stood with its legs straddling the harbor of Rhodes. However this theory is commonly dismissed because to construct a statue with spread legs would mean that the entire harbor would’ve been cut off (given the construction method stated in the previous paragraph). So it’s commonly assumed that the statue had legs together, holding up one arm whose hand held a lantern. Although commonly believed that the statue was located in the harbor of Rhodes, a recent proposal in 2008 by Ursula Veddar suggests that statue was located on the Acropolis of Rhodes, not in the harbor.

The destruction of the statue happened in 226 BC, only 56 years after its construction was completed. And earthquake hit that, in addition to other significant damage to the city, snapped the structure at its knees causing it to fall over. For over 800 years the remains laid on the ground where visitors traveled to see what had become of the great Colossus of Rhodes. If a statue can still garner thousands of visitors after its destruction, than I personally believe it strongly deserves a place on the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World list.

The Great Book of Archaeology. ISBN: 978-88-540-0395-8