The Colossus at Rhodes

Artist's impression of The Statue at the harbour mouth

The Colossus of Rhodes was a colossal statue of Helios that stood in the city of Rhodes (Greece). It was the work of Chares of Lindos (a city on the island of Rhodes). The statue, which commemorated the raising of Demetrius Poliorcetes' long siege (305-304 BC) of Rhodes, was made of bronze and was reinforced with iron and weighted with stones. It was more than 100 feet (30 m) high and stood by Rhodes's harbour, perhaps shielding its eyes with one hand, as a representation in a relief suggests. It is technically impossible that the statue could have straddled the harbour entrance, and the popular belief that it did so dates only from the Middle Ages. The statue, which took 12 years to build (c. 292-280 BC), was toppled by an earthquake about 225 BC. The fallen Colossus was left in place until AD 653, when the Arabs raided Rhodes and had it broken up and the bronze sold for scrap; it was said that the metal totalled more than 900 camel loads.

Who was Helios?

Helios, in Greek mythology, the ancient sun god, son of the Titans Hyperion and Thea, and brother of Selene, goddess of the moon, and Eos, goddess of the dawn. Helios was believed to ride his golden chariot across the heavens daily, giving light to gods and mortals. At evening he sank into the western ocean, from which he was carried in a golden cup back to his palace in the east. Helios alone could control the fierce horses that drew his fiery chariot. When his son Phaëthon persuaded Helios to let him drive the chariot across the sky, Phaëthon was killed. Helios was widely worshipped throughout the Greek world, but his principal cult was at Rhodes. He is often identified with Apollo, the later Greek god of the sun.