The Colossus of Rhodes. Giant statue of the sun god. Colossus of Rhodes: a brief description

Inhabitants of Rhodes, a tribe of Dorians,
this copper colossus
The size of the sky, Helium,
raised to you.
(Unknown ancient poet)

The Colossus of Rhodes (Greek Κολοσσός της Ρόδου, lat. Colossus Rhodi) is one of the ancient seven wonders of the world, a clear and irrefutable proof of the wealth and power of Rhodes. The Colossus of Rhodes was called Ancient Greece a huge bronze statue on the island of Rhodes. Like most of the seven wonders of the world, this sculpture has not survived to this day. Nothing remains of him at all, except for mentions in ancient historical works and myths. Despite this, historians and archaeologists are persistently trying by scientific methods to clarify the shape of the statue and the place where it stood.

Despite the uncertainty of information about the semi-mythical Colossus, historical science has nevertheless accumulated a considerable amount of objective data about this ancient Greek miracle. Judging by ancient sources, the height of the Colossus was from 30 to 36 meters.

Georg Balthasar Probst.

In the third century BC. the island of Rhodes was attacked by the commander Demetrius. However, he failed to defeat the Rhodians, despite the special siege machines - the last word military equipment. Demetrius retreated, leaving on the shore a huge iron-studded siege tower with rams and a swing bridge, catapults, platforms for landing - a heliopolis, which was set in motion by 3,400 soldiers. This heliopolis - the same kind of wonder of the world - instead of destruction brought the city unexpected benefits and worldwide fame. Entrepreneurial merchants bought a heleopolis from the Rhodians “for scrap” for fabulous money - 300 talents. With the proceeds from the sale of the tower, a statue of Helios, the patron saint of the island of Rhodes, was erected. This one of the seven wonders of the world was erected in 292-280. BC.

After Martin de Vos. 1614

The author of the project was, presumably, the sculptor Hades from the city of Lindos on Rhodes, a student of Lysippus. The construction of the giant statue consisted of three massive stone pillars, which acted as supports in the legs of the statue and the coverlet. At the level of the shoulders and in the belt, the pillars were connected by iron transverse beams.

An employee of the British Museum Marlion suggests that the section of iron bars at the ankle level of the statue was about 4.5 square meters. inches. Above and below this point, the cross section gradually decreased. Pillars and beams served as the basis of an iron frame (there is a version that the frame was smeared with clay, "a colossus with clay feet"?), which was covered with chased bronze sheets 1.6 mm thick.

The statue took 12 years to build. To work on the image of the god directly at the site of its installation, Chares used an original technique: with the gradual elevation of the sculpture, the earthen hill around it also rose; the hill was subsequently torn down, and the statue in its entirety was revealed to the astonished inhabitants of the island.

It took 500 talents of bronze and 300 talents of iron to make the grandiose monument (about 13 and about 8 tons, respectively). The colossus also gave rise to a kind of fashion for giant statues, on Rhodes already in the 2nd century. BC e. about a hundred colossal sculptures were installed.

The god Helios was represented as an upright naked young athlete with a radiant crown on his head. The powerful legs of the young man were slightly apart, the palm right hand put to his eyes, in his left he held a veil falling to the ground. Slightly leaning back, the young man peered into the distance.

The main sources of factual data about the legendary bronze giant were the works of Pliny, Philo and short texts - inscriptions and dedications. None of these texts indicate where the Colossus stood. There is no detailed description of the statue there - only the most general information.

It has long been believed that the Colossus stood in front of the harbor of Mandraki, one of many in the city of Rhodes. The image of the Colossus of Rhodes with widely spaced legs, towering like an arch over the entrance to the harbor, is well known. Given the height of the statue and the width of the harbor entrance, this consideration is impossible. With the height of the Colossus 36 m, the distance between its legs could not be 400 m (the width of the entrance to the harbor), otherwise it would look something like this:

In addition, the Colossus would block the entrance to the harbor. There are not only specific archaeological confirmations, but also indirect indications of such an arrangement of the famous statue. Recent studies say that the Colossus was installed either on the eastern cape of the Mandraki harbor, or even inside it. In favor of the hypothesis about the installation of Helios in the harbor, one can also cite the fact that the inhabitants built their Colossus in honor of the removal of the island from the siege, and the enemy arrived from the sea.

The rumor quickly spread about this wonder of the world, whose life turned out to be very short, but the glory is lasting. The colossus stood for 65 (according to other sources, 56) years. In 226 (222?) BC. it was destroyed by a strong earthquake. The knees turned out to be the most vulnerable spot - above the knees, the statue bent in such a way that the head and shoulders rested on the ground.

Salvador Dali. Colossus of Rhodes.

The Rhodians and their neighbors tried to raise the defeated giant. The Egyptian king sent skilled craftsmen and several hundred talents of copper. Unfortunately, it was not possible to restore the statue. (The oracle forbade a new installation.) For almost 1000 years, a split statue lay on the shore of the bay, which became a landmark of Rhodes. As Strabo writes, "the statue lay on the ground, overthrown by an earthquake and broken at the knees." But even then, the Colossus was surprising for its size. Pliny the Elder mentions that only a few could grasp the statue's thumb with both hands. "Even if it's on the ground, it's a miracle," said Pliny the Elder.

Only in 977, the Arab governor sold it to an enterprising merchant for remelting. The ear was cut into pieces, and the costly bronze was taken away on 900 camels.

1608

The oldest image of the Colossus of Rhodes has been preserved since 1556. The true form and history of the appearance of the Colossus is not known, modern reconstructions of the statue standing upright are more accurate than early drawings. Although this miracle has disappeared, it has inspired contemporary artists such as the French sculptor August Bartholdy, famous for his work "The Statue of Liberty".

Now, at the entrance to the harbor of Mandraki, two bronze statues of deer stand on the columns, which are the emblem of modern Rhodes. It is believed that the columns stand in place of the feet of the colossus. The image of the Colossus of Rhodes can be seen everywhere: on stamps, postcards, old engravings.

In November 2008, the intention to reconstruct the statue as a lighting installation was announced. According to project managers, the construction will be several times higher than its original - from 60 to 100 meters. The project budget is estimated at 200 million euros, which will be raised from international sponsors, as well as from personal funds German artist Gert Hof.

Tsereteli wants to build a 47-meter "Olympic Colossus" in Sochi. According to the project of Z. Tsereteli, inside this 47-meter sculpture there will be elevators, and under it there will be rooms for museums.

Everyone knows the 93-meter Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. In the left hand is a torch, and in the right is a tablet on which the date of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence is immortalized. But 2300 years ago, the same statue was built on Greek island and her name.

The Colossus of Rhodes: short description

The Colossus of Rhodes - famous miracle light, which was installed at the entrance to the harbor of the island of Rhodes in 304 BC.
During antiquity, the island of Rhodes occupied an important economic role located in the southwest of Asia Minor. main city- Rhodes, bore the name of the island and was founded in 407 BC. In 358 BC. the island was conquered by King Mausolus, yes, yes, exactly by the one in whose honor one of the seven wonders of the world was erected -.

Later, in 340 BC. the island passed into the possession of the Persians, and eight years later it was captured by Alexander the Great. After the death of Macedonian, who died in (another of the seven wonders of the world), the generals began to fight for the right to inherit the empire.

Rhodes was divided into three parts, which went to Ptolemy, Seleucus, Antigonus. It so happened that the Rhodians were on the side of Ptolemy, who ruled Egypt even before that. Envy clouded the eyes of Antigonus, and with the help of his son Demetrius, he went to war against Rhodes. A huge army of more than 40,000 (the largest population of the island) soldiers collapsed on the walls port city. To conquer Rhodes, a huge siege tower was built, mounted on six ships!

But here Demetrius failed, a sudden hurricane overturned the structure into the water. Antigonus did not give up and ordered his son to build another giant tower with a height of 150 feet and a base of 75 square feet. The second tower carried many catapults, the soldiers on it were protected by animal skins and shields made of wood. The Rhodians did not save here either, pouring out a bunch of sewage from the outside of the wall. As a result, the huge tower got stuck, never reaching its destination. Just in time, a fleet from Egypt arrived, which repelled Demitri's attack, putting him to flight.

How was the Colossus of Rhodes created?

To perpetuate their victory, the islanders decided to build a huge statue of Helios, the god of the sun, who, according to legend, brought the island out of the depths of the sea. Funds received from the sale of Demetrius' siege engines, which were thrown behind the wall, were used for the construction. Construction began in 304 BC. and lasted twelve years, was installed on a hill that was created at the entrance to the harbor.

The statue was surrounded by an earth mound that grew along with the sculpture. Chares had two goals in constructing this barrier. Firstly, for the time being, the statue was hidden from the eyes of the curious, and secondly, the mound served as a kind of platform that allowed workers to carry out each subsequent stage of assembly.

Very often, on photo Colossus of Rhodes depicted with legs wide apart, between which ships sail into the harbor, but this is not so - the statue was installed on the shore. The height of the Colossus was about 110 feet, add another 50 feet, which gave the pedestal. The sculpture was a half-naked god, who closed his eyes from the sun with his right hand, and held his robe with his left. There is an opinion among historians that most of The sculpture consisted of clay stuck on a steel frame, and bronze sheets were already applied on top of it. According to Pylon of Byzantium, the statue took 15 tons of bronze and 9 tons of iron.

The creator of the statue was Sherry, originally from Linda, who studied with the famous sculpture Lysippus. Unfortunately, Jerez never saw the result of his work. There are two versions of his death. First - Sherry noticed a crack in an almost finished statue, unable to survive this, he committed suicide. The second is the complete ruin of the sculptor due to the increase in construction costs. Jerez grieved for a long time and eventually hanged himself. The Rodowski colossus stood at the entrance to the harbor for about 60 years. The statue was still visible far from the island, reflecting the rays of the sun.

Colossus of Rhodes: the inglorious death of a giant statue

The colossus stood for 65 years. In 222 or 226 BC the statue was destroyed by an earthquake. For almost seven hundred years, parts of the statue lay at the entrance to the harbor, attracting tourists and merchants.

In the 7th century AD. the Arabs who conquered Rhodes split the bronze parts of the Colossus into smaller ones and sold them to Arab merchants, after which the fragments fell into the hands of rich Jewish people from Syria. The legend says: in order to take out the "remains" of the sculpture, it took 900 camels! Until now, disputes rage among historians about the true whereabouts of the statue.

In our time, measures are being taken to build a new colossus made of luminous elements. The cost of the project, conceived in 2008, is about 200 million euros, and the height of the statue after reconstruction, according to various sources, will be from 60 to 100 meters.

It was compiled 2000 years ago by a Greek scribe. He believed that they could not be destroyed. Modern world and still fascinates this magical list.

The Colossus of Rhodes occupies an honorable place in it. The people of the island erected this statue in gratitude to the god Helios for his intercession during the year-long siege of the city by forty thousand troops.

Where is the Colossus of Rhodes located?

Now nowhere. But, as already mentioned, according to legend, it was erected on and was visible far from the sea. It was here, according to ancient writers, that the statue was located: the second sun met face to face with the first. It was created around 280 BC. e. student Kares. And although after more than 60 years, the Colossus of Rhodes fell, they say that even the ruins on the ground were impressive. In the end, the statue was destroyed by Arab soldiers and sold to Syria for stones.

Today it is impossible to find even traces in the place where she stood. Classical scholars argue that statues of this type were usually located behind the temple. But in Rhodes, the temple of Helios is located on a hilltop in the center of the city, and no traces of the Colossus could be found there. Although thanks to this statement it was possible to open another, no less important fact. It turned out that huge walls from the time of the Colossus surround the city and descend to the port. This proves that the harbor of the island of Rhodes is largely of artificial origin. And this means that the statue of the Colossus of Rhodes could be the end of the harbor wall, as in other ancient artificial harbors. She could not block the entrance to it. To do this, it must be a quarter of a mile high. But neither metal nor stone can withstand the stress of winter storms. Today at the end of the harbor wall stands medieval fortress St. Nicholas. Half of it is made of stones hewn in antiquity. If you look closely at the pieces of marble that served as building material for this small fortress, you can understand that they were carved by craftsmen from the time of the Colossus of Rhodes.

In the Middle Ages, people found new uses for them. The most interesting thing about these stones is that they are not square. Each of them is a fragment of a 17-meter circle and has roundings. 17 meters is the exact diameter of the tower inside the small fortress. It is possible that medieval architects began to build directly on the ancient foundation, which serves as a pedestal for the fallen statue.

What did the Colossus of Rhodes look like and how was it made?

The chronicler, during whose time the statue was still standing, says that it was built on the same principle as the house. Fragments of other ancient figures show that they were built with the same skill as Zeus Phidias. Fragment by fragment of a framework of steel and stone. The Colossus of Rhodes was covered with bronze sheets. As for the posture, in fact, no one knows whether he was standing, sitting, or, for example, driving a chariot. Although, you can try to find some hints in a copy of the statue made by Lysippa himself from marble for Alexander. But, most likely, the Colossus was not as tired and pompous as the old Hercules. Rather, it was a young man with a beautiful face, the same as the head of a nameless statue found in Rhodes, which gives us a new understanding. The peculiarity of this fragment is the presence of many identical holes in a circle. If you insert the pins into them, you can see that they diverge symmetrically, like the sun's rays on the statue of Helios, that is, this is most likely his head. In addition, it dates (within plus or minus 100 years) to the same time as the creation of the Colossus. If you look closely at the face, you can see the same parted mouth, turned neck, open eyes. One to One That is, the same school of sculptors that built the Colossus of Rhodes also created the image of the king, who later went around the world.

Despite this, historians and archaeologists are persistently trying by scientific methods to clarify the shape of the statue and the place where it stood.

Despite the uncertainty of information about the semi-mythical Colossus, historical science has nevertheless accumulated a considerable amount of objective data about this ancient Greek miracle. Judging by ancient sources, the height of the Colossus was from 30 to 36 meters.

Georg Balthasar Probst.

In the third century BC. the island of Rhodes was attacked by the commander Demetrius. However, he failed to defeat the Rhodians, despite the special siege machines - the last word in military technology. Demetrius retreated, leaving on the shore a huge iron-studded siege tower with rams and a swing bridge, catapults, platforms for landing - a heliopolis, which was set in motion by 3,400 soldiers. This heliopolis - the same kind of wonder of the world - instead of destruction brought the city unexpected benefits and worldwide fame. Entrepreneurial merchants bought a heleopolis from the Rhodians “for scrap” for fabulous money - 300 talents. With the proceeds from the sale of the tower, a statue of Helios, the patron saint of the island of Rhodes, was erected. This one of the seven wonders of the world was erected in 292-280. BC.

After Martin de Vos. 1614

The author of the project was, presumably, the sculptor Hades from the city of Lindos on Rhodes, a student of Lysippus. The construction of the giant statue consisted of three massive stone pillars that served as supports in the legs of the statue and the coverlet. At the level of the shoulders and in the belt, the pillars were connected by iron transverse beams.

An employee of the British Museum Marlion suggests that the section of iron bars at the ankle level of the statue was about 4.5 square meters. inches. Above and below this point, the cross section gradually decreased. Pillars and beams served as the basis of an iron frame (there is a version that the frame was smeared with clay, "a colossus with clay feet"?), which was covered with chased bronze sheets 1.6 mm thick.

The statue took 12 years to build. To work on the image of the god directly at the site of its installation, Chares used an original technique: with the gradual elevation of the sculpture, the earthen hill around it also rose; the hill was subsequently torn down, and the statue in its entirety was revealed to the astonished inhabitants of the island.

It took 500 talents of bronze and 300 talents of iron to make the grandiose monument (about 13 and about 8 tons, respectively). The colossus also gave rise to a kind of fashion for giant statues, on Rhodes already in the 2nd century. BC e. about a hundred colossal sculptures were installed.

The god Helios was represented as an upright naked young athlete with a radiant crown on his head. The powerful legs of the young man were slightly apart, the palm of his right hand was put to his eyes, in his left he held a coverlet falling to the ground. Slightly leaning back, the young man peered into the distance.

The main sources of factual data about the legendary bronze giant were the works of Pliny, Philo and short texts - inscriptions and dedications. None of these texts indicate where the Colossus stood. There is no detailed description of the statue there - only the most general information.

It has long been believed that the Colossus stood in front of the harbor of Mandraki, one of many in the city of Rhodes. The image of the Colossus of Rhodes with widely spaced legs, towering like an arch over the entrance to the harbor, is well known. Given the height of the statue and the width of the harbor entrance, this consideration is impossible. With the height of the Colossus 36 m, the distance between its legs could not be 400 m (the width of the entrance to the harbor), otherwise it would look something like this:

In addition, the Colossus would block the entrance to the harbor. There are not only specific archaeological confirmations, but also indirect indications of such an arrangement of the famous statue. Recent studies say that the Colossus was installed either on the eastern cape of the Mandraki harbor, or even inside it. In favor of the hypothesis about the installation of Helios in the harbor, one can also cite the fact that the inhabitants built their Colossus in honor of the removal of the island from the siege, and the enemy arrived from the sea.

The rumor quickly spread about this wonder of the world, whose life turned out to be very short, but the glory is lasting. The colossus stood for 65 (according to other sources, 56) years. In 226 (222?) BC. it was destroyed by a strong earthquake. The knees turned out to be the most vulnerable spot - above the knees, the statue bent in such a way that the head and shoulders rested on the ground.

Salvador Dali. Colossus of Rhodes.

The Rhodians and their neighbors tried to raise the defeated giant. The Egyptian king sent skilled craftsmen and several hundred talents of copper. Unfortunately, it was not possible to restore the statue. (The oracle forbade a new installation.) For almost 1000 years, a split statue lay on the shore of the bay, which became a landmark of Rhodes. As Strabo writes, "the statue lay on the ground, overthrown by an earthquake and broken at the knees." But even then, the Colossus was surprising for its size. Pliny the Elder mentions that only a few could grasp the statue's thumb with both hands. "Even if it's on the ground, it's a miracle," said Pliny the Elder.

Only in 977, the Arab governor sold it to an enterprising merchant for remelting. The ear was cut into pieces, and the costly bronze was taken away on 900 camels.

1608

The oldest image of the Colossus of Rhodes has been preserved since 1556. The true form and history of the appearance of the Colossus is not known, modern reconstructions of the statue standing upright are more accurate than early drawings. Although this miracle has disappeared, it has inspired contemporary artists such as the French sculptor August Bartholdy, famous for his work "The Statue of Liberty".

Now, at the entrance to the harbor of Mandraki, two bronze statues of deer stand on the columns, which are the emblem of modern Rhodes. It is believed that the columns stand in place of the feet of the colossus. The image of the Colossus of Rhodes can be seen everywhere: on stamps, postcards, old engravings.

In November 2008, the intention to reconstruct the statue as a lighting installation was announced. According to project managers, the construction will be several times higher than its original - from 60 to 100 meters. The project budget is estimated at 200 million euros, which will be raised from international sponsors, as well as from the personal funds of German artist Gert Hof.

Tsereteli wants to build a 47-meter "Olympic Colossus" in Sochi. According to the project of Z. Tsereteli, inside this 47-meter sculpture there will be elevators, and under it there will be rooms for museums.