Listed 8 sub titles with search on: Monuments reported by ancient authors for destination: "RODOS Ancient city DODEKANISSOS".
To you, O Sun, the people of Dorian Rhodes set up this bronze
statue reaching to Olympus when they had pacified the waves of war and crowned
their city with the spoils taken from the enemy. Not only over the seas but
also on land did they kindle the lovely torch of freedom.
Dedicatory inscription of the Colossus
From its building to its destruction lies a time span of merely 56 years. Yet
the colossus earned a place in the famous list of Wonders. "But even lying on
the ground, it is a marvel", said Pliny the Elder. The Colossus of Rhodes was
not only a gigantic statue. It was rather a symbol of unity of the people who
inhabited that beautiful Mediterranean island -- Rhodes.
Location
At the entrance of the harbor of the Mediterranean island of Rhodes in Greece.
History
Throughout most of its history, ancient Greece was comprised of city-states which
had limited power beyond their boundary. On the small island of Rhodes were three
of these: Ialysos, Kamiros, and Lindos. In 408 BC, the cities united to form one
territory, with a unified capital, Rhodes. The city thrived commercially and had
strong economic ties with their main ally, Ptolemy I Soter of Egypt. In 305 BC,
the Antigonids of Macedonia who were also rivals of the Ptolemies, besieged Rhodes
in an attempt to break the Rhodo-Egyptian alliance. They could never penetrate
the city. When a peace agreement was reached in 304 BC, the Antagonids lifted
the siege, leaving a wealth of military equipment behind. To celebrate their unity,
the Rhodians sold the equipment and used the money to erect an enormous statue
of their sun god, Helios.
The construction of the Colossus took 12 years and was finished in 282 BC. For
years, the statue stood at the harbor entrance, until a strong earthquake hit
Rhodes about 226 BC. The city was badly damaged, and the Colossus was broken at
its weakest point -- the knee. The Rhodians received an immediate offer from Ptolemy
III Eurgetes of Egypt to cover all restoration costs for the toppled monument.
However, an oracle was consulted and forbade the re-erection. Ptolemy's offer
was declined.
For almost a millennium, the statue lay broken in ruins. 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.
Description
Let us first clear a misconception about the appearance of the Colossus. It has
long been believed that the Colossus stood in front of the Mandraki harbor, one
of many in the city of Rhodes, straddling its entrance. Given the height of the
statue and the width of the harbor mouth, this picture is rather impossible than
improbable. Moreover, the fallen Colossus would have blocked the harbor entrance.
Recent studies suggest that it was erected either on the eastern promontory of
the Mandraki harbor, or even further inland. Anyway, it did never straddle the
harbor entrance.
The project was commissioned by the Rhodian sculptor Chares of Lindos. To build
the statue, his workers cast the outer bronze skin parts. The base was made of
white marble, and the feet and ankle of the statue were first fixed. The structure
was gradually erected as the bronze form was fortified with an iron and stone
framework. To reach the higher parts, an earth ramp was built around the statue
and was later removed. When the colossus was finished, it stood about 33 m (110
ft) high. And when it fell, "few people can make their arms meet round the thumb",
wrote Pliny.
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. Although it disappeared from existence, the ancient World Wonder inspired
modern artists such as French sculptor Auguste Bartholdi best known by his famous
work: The Statue of Liberty.
Alaa K. Ashmawy, Assistant Professor, University of South Florida, ed.
This text is cited Nov 2002 from the The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World URL below, which contains image.
But the work that surpassed all in admiration was the colossal statue of the Sun at Rhodes, made by Chares of Lindos, the pupil of the above-mentioned Lysippus. This statue was 70 cubits [105 ft.] high, and 66 years after its erection it was overthrown by an earthquake [228 or 226], but even lying on the ground it is a marvel. Few people can get their arms around its thumb, and the fingers are larger than most statues. Vast caves yawn within its fractured limbs, while inside one sees great masses of rock, which he used to stabilize it when he erected it. It is recorded that it took 12 years to complete and cost 300 talents, which they seized from the sale of the siege-engines left by king Demetrius when he gave up his protracted siege of Rhodes in disgust (Pliny, N.H. 34.41)
This extract is from: Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors: Their Careers and Extant Works. Cited Nov 2002 from Perseus Project URL below, which contains extracts from the ancient literature, bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
The colossus at Rhodes . . . stood seventy cubits high, and took the form of a Helios; the image of the god was subsequently determined by it alone. The artist expended so much bronze upon it, that it nearly caused a dearth in the mines; for the casting of the image became the industry of the world . . . .
Having built a base of white marble, he first fixed upon it the feet of the Colossus up to the ankle-joints, bearing in mind the symmetria of a god intended to stand to a height of 70 cubits; for the sole of the foot was already longer than other statues are high. For this reason it was impossible to hoist up the remainder and place it upon the feet, but the ankles had to be cast upon them, and, as when a house is being built, the whole work had to rise upon itself.
And so, while other statues are first modelled, then dismembered for casting in parts, then finally recomposed and erected, in this case when the first part had been cast, the second was modelled upon it, and when this had been cast, the third was built upon it, and the next again was done according to the same technique. For the individual metal sections could not be moved. When a new section had been cast upon those already completed, the spacing of the horizontal tie-bars and the joints of the framework were taken care of, and the stability of the stone blocks placed inside it was ensured.
In order to keep the plan of operations on a firm footing throughout, he heaped up a huge mound of earth around the completed limbs, burying the finished work and carrying out the next section of casting on that level. So having thus ascended little by little to the summit of his hopes, and having expended five hundred talents [30,000 lbs.] of bronze and three hundred [18,000 lbs.] of iron upon it, he made a god to equal the god, and produced by his daring a mighty work; for he had given the world a second sun to match the first. (Philo, On the Seven Wonders of the World 4)
This extract is from: Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors: Their Careers and Extant Works. Cited Nov 2002 from Perseus Project URL below, which contains extracts from the ancient literature, bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Within the town is a third century B.C. Temple of Aphrodite
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