Skip to main content

The Colossus of Rhodes: The representative statue of Helios

The Colossus of Rhodes was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world and, along with the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the last on the list that came to see the light.It also enjoys the dubious honor of being, probably, the one that less hard then, while some of its companions of list survived for centuries (and, in the case of the Great Pyramid of Giza, they even arrive at the present time), the Colossus of Rhodes only lasted a few currently, we have no rest of the statue left and we can only imagine what it should have looked like thanks to the descriptions made by it by authors such as Pliny the Elder or Estrabon.

Construction of the Colossus of Rhodes

The idea of ​​building a huge statue in honor of the god Helios , protector god of Rhodes, emerged after the great siege suffered by the island in 305 BC that year, the son of Antigono I, the successor of Alexander the Great in the zo Na of Macedonia, Syria and other areas of Asia Minor, Demetrio Poliorcetes, arrived on the island of Rhodes under the command of a powerful fleet to besiege the city.The reason was the close alliance that maintained Rhodes with Ptolemy I of Egypt, a prominent rival and enemy of Antigono I.Fearful that if he could provide military aid or resources to Ptolemy I during their clashes, they decided to take control of Rhodes through this siege.However, Rhodes, who was well fortified and prepared for such problems, endured the siege for more than a year, without Demetrio achieving his goal of dominating it.In 304 BC, Demetrio signed a peace treaty with Rhodes before retiring with his fleet without fulfilling his objective, after Ptolemy sent a fleet to help to his ally.

The Colossus of Rhodes: The representative statue of Helios

The inhabitants of Rhodes no they only attributed their ability to resist l siege to their own precautions, but also to the help that their protective god, Helios, the personification of the Sun would have provided them .To honor him, they decided that they would create the most magnificent statue possible in his honor, work who commissioned Carios, who had been a pupil of the famous artist Lysippus.

According to one of the best descriptions we have left of Colossus of Rhodes , that of Pliny the Elder, this would measure 32 meters , although he could only see his remains after his collapse.We have little information about the Colossus.He would have been made of iron and bronze , although the feet were probably of stone and had some details in other materials, such as the aforementioned marble.In addition to this, we know very few concrete details about its appearance and its construction n, although there are many theories and deductions made by different specialists of history and architecture itectura.

The Colossus of Rhodes: The representative statue of Helios

In fact, it is not even known surely where and how it would be located.For a long time it was thought that the Colossus would have each leg resting on one side of the Rhodes pier .However, it seems very complicated that, with the techniques of the time , it could have been achieved that a statue of such dimensions had remained stable in that position.Several historians suggest that it would have presided over the Rhodes dock, but on one of the sides, with a more usual position according to the aesthetics and the form of construction of Greek Hellenistic art, but that is also not certain and another theory suggests that the Colossus would not have been on the quayside, but in the city's Acropolis .

Perhaps one of the Few sure things we know today about the Colossus is the certainty of its magnificence.He must have impressed his contemporaries greatly.We must remember that Pliny, as we have indicated, affirms that the Colossus measures about 32 meters, while the Statue of Liberty of New York, which still impresses today, measures only two meters more, 34, from its feet to its crown (not counting the base or the torch).If the Statue of Liberty continues to fascinate us today, we can only imagine the impression that a statue of the size of the Colossus would cause to its contemporaries.

The Colossus of Rhodes: The representative statue of Helios

However, this great work lasted very little time. Its construction began in the year 292 BC and ended around 280 BC .However, in the year 226 BC, a huge earthquake shook the island of Rhodes, causing serious damage and collapsing the great Colossus That, it seems, broke through the legs and fell to the ground, shattering as a result of the coup.The Colossus was not rebuilt and its remains remained in Rhodes for centuries, to the wonder of the island's visitors.

The remains of the Colossus did not disappear until the Muslims conquered the island of Rhodes, already in the Middle Ages.It is known that the caliph Muawiyah I He sold part of the statue to a merchant and destroyed the rest to take advantage of his material.Today, we have no known remains of the great Colossus.Some historians have indicated several hypotheses of places where the magnificent statue could have been raised, but they are far from being verified and have been answered.Therefore, today, we can only imagine how it would look like thanks to the wonderful testimonies left by your witnesses.

Video of the Colossus of Rhodes

If you want to know more about this great construction of Antiquity, we recommend you see the next conference, dedicated to the Colossus and to the Lighthouse of Alexandria:

Useful links

In History Today Online we have many other articles that can be very interesting:

And if you liked the article, do not hesitate to share it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter and Google +.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The great conquerors of history

What do you think has been the greatest conqueror in the world? In today's article we will talk about the great world conquerors and what has been the evolution until today. From the beginning of the world to the current moment, as we know it, there have been multiple conquests, battles and wars that have led to the creation of different kingdoms that have remained for a short time or thousands of years. In today's article we will talk about the great conquerors of antiquity: Alexander the Great Attila Genghis Khan Napoleon Bonaparte Adolf Hitler Article index Alexander the Great Alexander the Great is considered the greatest conqueror in history, hence he was called El Grande. The great conquest that you celebrated was that of Persia, territory after territory ended up being part of its empire : Asia Minor, the Mediterranean Levant, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Central Asia and even invaded India. Attila Attila is another of the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jose de San Martin: A Hero of South America

To talk about Jose de San Martin, we have to place historically in the South American independence of the Spanish colonies.If we place it chronologically, we will be talking about the beginning of the 19th century. While Europe was living the vicissitudes of a young French military, called Napoleon , in America, the new enlightened currents, the new policies and a society prepared to rule its own future , lit the fuse of the Independence .If we talk about relevant and necessary figures to carry out such a company in South America, we certainly have to refer to Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Marti . In this article we will focus on Jose de San Martin , independence hero of Argentina, Chile and Peru, c How was his life, his motivations, his military career and his independence achievements, a man of firm convictions. Jose de San Martin | Childhood and Youth His full name was Jose Francisco de San Marti y Matorras , he was born in Yapeyu or as he was called in his ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Gustavo Adolfo Becquer Biography

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (Gustavo Adolfo Domínguez Bastida; Seville, 1836-Madrid, 1870) Spanish poet.Along with Rosalía de Castro, he is the highest representative of post-romantic poetry, a trend that had as distinctive features the intimate theme and an apparent expressive simplicity, far from the vehemence rhetoric of romanticism. Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (detail of a portrait made by his brother Valeriano, c.1862) Bécquer's work exerted a strong He influenced later figures such as Rubén Darío, Antonio Machado, Juan Ramón Jiménez and the poets of the generation of '27, and critics judge him to be the initiator of contemporary Spanish poetry.But more than a great name in literary history, Bécquer is above all a living poet, popular in every sense of the word, whose verses, with a moving voice and winged beauty, have enjoyed and continue to enjoy the predilection of millions of readers.. Biography Son and brother of painters, he was orphaned at the age of ten and live...
Post a Comment
Read more

Isabel de Villena Biography

Isabel de Villena (Valencia ?, 1430-1490) Illegitimate daughter of Don Enrique de Villena, Isabel de Villena was perhaps born in Valencia, where she was educated by her aunt, Queen María, wife of Alfonso V of Aragon, since at the age of four she was orphaned.His real name was Elionor Manuel de Villena; she adopted that of Isabel when she entered the monastery of Poor Clare Franciscans of the Holy Trinity in Valencia. Isabel de Villena She is the author of a Life of Jesus , written in Valencian for the nuns of her convent, of which she became Prioress in the year 1463.The work is structured around the biography of Jesus of Nazareth and is woven together with a series of detailed comments on the Gospels that show great mastery in the recreation of images destined to move the devotion of the reader.It is a meditation technique taken from the Franciscan spirit of "imitation of Christ", which he must have known from the Meditationes Vitae Christi , by an anonymous author,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Garnet Joseph Wolseley Biography

Garnet Joseph Wolseley (Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount of Wolseley; Golden Bridge, County Dublin, 1833-Mentone, France, 1913) Field Marshal and Commander-in-Chief of the British Army (1895-1901).During the short period of time that he was in absolute command of the British Army, he carried out a profound reorganization and modernization of it. Garnet Wolseley Son of a British officer, in 1852 he joined the army as second lieutenant of an infantry regiment, with which he distinguished himself in the Second Burmese War (1852-1853), which earned him promotion to the rank of lieutenant..The following year he campaigned in the Crimean War (1854-1856), serving in the corps of engineers.During the siege of Sevastopol he behaved with unparalleled courage and was seriously wounded, after which he was promoted to the rank of captain in December 1854. Once again in active duty, Wolseley participated in the campaign directed to suppress the sepoy rebellion in India (1857-1859), in w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Giacomo Puccini Biography

Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, present-day Italy, 1858-Brussels, 1924) Italian composer.Heir to the great Italian lyrical tradition, but at the same time open to other currents and styles typical of the turn of the century, Puccini became the great dominator of the international lyrical scene during the first decades of the 20th century.He was not a prolific creator: without counting a few instrumental pieces and some religious pieces composed in his youth, twelve operas make up the bulk of his production, an insignificant figure compared to those of his predecessors, but enough to make him a key author of the repertoire.operatic and one of the most appreciated and applauded by the public. Puccini Giacomo Puccini was born into a family, some of whose members had held, since the 18th century, the position of chapelmaster from Lucca Cathedral.On the death of his father, Michele, in 1863, little Giacomo, despite not having shown a special musical talent, was destined to follow the family ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Gabriel Orozco Biography

Gabriel Orozco (Xalapa, 1962) Mexican plastic artist, one of the most valued in the international circuit, author of a wide and versatile work that ranges from sculpture to spontaneous installations, including photography, video, drawing and art-object. Gabriel Orozco Considered one of the ten most important and influential creators in the world, perhaps the greatest renovator of the plastic arts in recent years, Orozco's work is essential in any important event of contemporary art and enriches biennials and museums in Europe and America. Gabriel Orozco was born in Xalapa, capital of the Mexican state of Veracruz, in 1962.He grew up and studied in Mexico City, and his personality was forged on the campus and at the National School of Plastic Arts (ENAP) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the largest in Latin America.In 1986 he began, with a one-year study trip to Madrid, the journey of someone who in 2005 was not yet a prophet in his land and for a lon...
Post a Comment
Read more

Javier Fesser Biography

Javier Fesser (Javier Fesser Pérez de Petinto; Madrid, 1964) Spanish filmmaker.After filming two remarkable comedies, he gained notoriety with the drama Camino (2008), a controversial film for its vision of religious fanaticism that won six Goya Awards in 2009. Born in the Womb From a family with artistic concerns, Javier Fesser enrolled in naval engineering; Then he changed his studies for communication sciences at the Complutense University of Madrid, although he would not get a degree either.In 1986 he created Línea Films, a company dedicated to making advertising spots, from which he developed campaigns for brands such as Telefónica or BMW.In 1992 he founded, with Luis Manso, the Pendelton Film production company, with the idea of ​​alternating advertising production with film production. Javier Fesser A at the same time that the television campaigns followed, Fesser began his journey in the cinema with the direction of short films.His debut could not have been more enco...
Post a Comment
Read more

Harry markowitz Biography

Harry Markowitz (Harry Max Markowitz; Chicago, 1927) American economist specialized in investment analysis.He received the 1990 Nobel Prize in Economics, along with Merton Miller and William Sharpe, for his contributions to investment portfolio analysis and corporate financing methods. Harry Markowitz Harry Markowitz completed his high school studies in Chicago and entered the University of the same city for his undergraduate degree.There he was forged as an economist with professors such as Milton Friedman, Tjalling Koopmans or Leonard Savage, who had already worked on the problems of investment selection.He was fortunate to be able to collaborate during his studies in research projects of the Cowles Commission, and obtained his graduation in 1950. Since then he defined as his main line of research the observation of financial investments, which led him to publish the basic points of his approach to optimal portfolio choice in an article entitled "Portfolio Selection....
Post a Comment
Read more