On the colossus of Rhodes

Like the modern statue of Liberty, Rhodes had its own colossus, in the shape of the island's patron God--well, Titan--Helios. It is said to have stood a little over a hundred feet, or thirty meters, tall, on a fifty feet, or fifteen meters, pedestal. It was made out of bronze over an iron, or wooden, framework. Although there are accounts that place the statue over the harbor entrance, like pictured below, a construction like that would be incredibly hard to make even today. It's more likely the statue stood on one side of the harbor entrance or a little off onto a hill. Wherever it stood, it would have been an incredibly intimidating sight to behold for anyone meaning the island's inhabitants harm: a constant reminder that they were protected by a very powerful Titan.

The statue was, in fact, paid for with enemy money. After Alexander the Great's death, a war broke out over his succession. sides were picked, other sides got angry and Rhodes found itself besieged. When the cavalry arrived, the attackers fled, leaving much of their equipment behind. The inhabitants of the island sold the equipment and invested the money in the statue.

The sheer size of the statue gave it much of its glory, but also the fact that it was made with copper plating over a frame, made it a construction nightmare. Yet, the statue stood for nearly sixty year--until an earthquake literally shook the statue apart.

Ancient Origins posted a very interesting article about the colossos recently, of which I would like to share some exerpts. I would encourage you to read the whole thing, however, as it goes into great depth.

Since ancient times, the small Greek island of Rhodes has been a main intersection between the Aegean and the Mediterranean seas, and was an important economic center in the ancient world. The capital city, also named Rhodes, was built in 408 BC and was designed to take advantage of the island's best natural harbor on the northern coast. In 357 BC the island was conquered by Mausolus of Halicarnassus but fell into Persian hands in 340 BC and was finally captured by Alexander the Great in 332 BC.

In the late fourth century BC, Rhodes allied with Ptolemy I of Egypt against their common enemy, Antigonus I Monophthalmus of Macedonia. In 305 BC, Antigonus sent his son Demetrius to capture and punish the city of Rhodes for its alliance with Egypt. He attacked the island with 40,000 men and weapons and started a war which lasted a year. A relief force of ships sent by Ptolemy arrived in 304 BC, and Antigonus’ army abandoned the siege, leaving behind most of their siege equipment. To celebrate their victory, the Rhodians sold the equipment and decided to use the money to build a huge statue, to their sun god, Helios, called the Colossus of Rhodes.

The base was made of white marble and the structure was gradually erected as bronze plates were fortified over an iron and stone framework.  According to the book of “Pilon of Byzantium”, 15 tons of bronze was used, along with 9 tons of iron, though these numbers seem low to modern architects.  The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of superhuman proportions. It stood over 107 feet (30 meters) high, making it one of the largest statues in the ancient world; the thigh alone was supposedly 11 feet (3 meters) in width, the ankle 5 feet (1.5 meters) in length.
An idea of what this statue may have looked like comes down through images depicted on a few coins that survived the era.  Accounts from eye-witnesses and story-tellers tell of an enormous and amazing statue.  Depictions of the time speak of a naked man with a cloak over his left arm or shoulder proudly facing east to the rising sun, torch in one hand, and spear in the other.  Some think the statue was wearing a spiked crown, shading its eyes from the rising sun with its right hand, or possibly using that hand to hold the torch aloft in a pose similar to one later given to the Statue of Liberty.  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.