The Colossus of Rhodes was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Erected in Rhodes to commemorate the successful defense of the city after a yearlong siege by Demetrius I, a Macedonian King. When Ptolemy sent a relief force in 304 BC, Demetris abandoned his attack and retreated. The jubilant Rhodians collected the abandoned weaponry left behind by their assailants, repurposing the metals and trading siege equipment for gold and silver. They decided to invest the proceeds in memorializing their victory- creating a massive statue upon the shoreline both to celebrate their triumph, and as a show of force for any future attackers.

Erected in 292 BC, the massive statue stood about 33 meters tall, a little taller than the Statue of Liberty. Crafted by Chares, the statue was a tribute to the patron god of Rhodes, the titan Helios, the embodiment of the sun. The cult center for Helios was founded on Rhodes. Mythology tells how Helios was absent when Zeus doled out portions of the earth to all the other gods. When Helios returned, he complained to Zeus that he missed out on a parcel of land, and Zeus offered to reallocate the earth.

Helios, however, had spied a new land bubbling below the surface of the ocean. He asked Zeus if he could have this new land instead, and so it was that the city of Rhodes rose to the surface, a land dedicated to the titan god. The god fell in love with the new island, and the embodiment of the land, the goddess Rhodos. Together Helios and Rhodos had eleven sons, some of which the royal patrons of Rhodes shared claimed ancestry with. The official dedication text for the statue was believed to be:

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 and independence. For to the descendants of Herakles belongs dominion over sea and land.

The Greek Anthology – Translated by William Roger Paton.

Unlike many of the large sculptures from this period, the Colossus of Rhodes differed in its material use, cast primarily from iron and bronze recovered from war. Giant sculptures were often used as a show of force to demonstrate both resources and technology, as well as paying homage to the God they revered, so to build one from the discarded weapons left behind by their enemies certainly made a statement.

While the location remains unknown, various accounts from history situate it by the harbor. A massive marble base was laid, comprising both the stand and the feet to which the rest was attached. A tripod scaffolding was built from iron rods, one for each leg, and the third hidden with drapery. Attached to the frame giant sheets of beaten bronze were affixed, forming the outside of the statue. The looming colossus would have made an imposing figure, his bronzed skin shining in the sun as he rose from the island shores.

The statue stood for less than a century before it was toppled by an earthquake, breaking at the knees and sending the huge figure crashing down. It remained partially standing for another 800 years, a popular tourist attraction that both Strabo and Pliny the Elder visited:

The city of the Rhodians lies on the eastern promontory of Rhodes; and it is so far superior to all others in harbours and roads and walls and improvements in general that I am unable to speak of any other city as equal to it…. The best of these are, first, the Colossus of Helius, of which the author of the iambic verse says, “seven times ten cubits in height, the work of Chares the Lindian”; but it now lies on the ground, having been thrown down by an earthquake and broken at the knees. In accordance with a certain oracle, the people did not raise it again. This, then, is the most excellent of the votive offerings (at any rate, it is by common agreement one of the Seven Wonders).

Geography – Strabo

But that which is by far the most worthy of our admiration, is the colossal statue of the Sun, which stood formerly at Rhodes, and was the work of Chares the Lindian, a pupil of the above-named Lysippus; no less than seventy cubits in height. This statue fifty-six years after it was erected, was thrown down by an earthquake; but even as it lies, it excites our wonder and admiration. Few men can clasp the thumb in their arms, and its fingers are larger than most statues. Where the limbs are broken asunder, vast caverns are seen yawning in the interior. Within it, too, are to be seen large masses of rock, by the weight of which the artist steadied it while erecting it.

Natural Histories- PLINY

 The Statue remained in this state for nearly 800 years before Rhodes was raided by the Caliph Mu’awiya I and the last remnants of the statue were sold off by the looting party. While nothing remains of the statue today, there have been a few attempts to raise capital to rebuild it – but given the Oracle of Delphi warned the people of Rhodes against that action, maybe they are words best heeded.