The Manufacture Of The Eminent Colossus Of Rhodes, (280 B.C) Options

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THE MANUFACTURE OF THE EMINENT COLOSSUS OF RHODES
(280 B.C)




The eminent statue of Colossus of Rhodes, one of the seven marvels of antiquity, remains a big mystery, because have been rescued minimal information from texts. It constitutes a complex work of mechanics, sculptural, architecture that causes the admiration up to today. The Colossus was manufactured in the island of Rhodes as recollection of the victory of Rhodians in the siege of Dimitrios and the money of its construction came from the sale of the siege machines that had left Dimitrios the Besieger to them. Constructor of Colossus was Charis the Lindian, who was student of the famous sculptor Lysipus. The statue had height of 33m.(!), that is to say, it was two and a half times taller than the statue of Zeus in Olympia, the work of Fidias. It was made from bronze and iron and it was dedicated to the god Apollo (god Helium), the manufacture lasted 12 years, from the 292 until 280 B.C, and the technique of Haris constitutes up to today as a mystery. Few elements have rescued for the subject from the Filus the Byzantian, which unfortunately we cannot cross-check.

Enormous joists of support were started from the legs and shaping incline were linked in the head of statue. Some others horizontal joists supported the vertical ones and they were linked with the exterior plating of thickness, about, 3cm., according to the calculations that have made. For this construction Charis used enormous volumes of soil that surrounded the statue which was building from the legs to the top: this hill was dissolved in the end and revealed the magnificent statue, that naturally was not set up in the harbour of Rhodes on the two jetties, with open legs, this depiction is obviously artistic and it abstains from the truth because practically this was impossible, because the entry of harbour of Rhodes had width somewhere 400 metres and the Colossus was not so much… colossal. The texts allow us to assume that was found rather in the centre of city and looked at, both, to the sea and the harbour. According to the historical studies it is believed that the legendary statue was set up near the palace of the Magistrus the Great. The scientists still try to attribute its form based to the currencies that have been found by that period. They believe in any case, that it had hoop and kept in the hand torch or sword or arc.

The statue of Colossus had tragic fate, in the earthquake of the 220 B.C, broke in the knees and collapsed after existed as a spectacle for the public for tens years. In the 654 B.C it was sold in a Jewish tradesman that used 900 camels in order to transports the 225 tons of bronze that constituted it. Is still remains mystery its position, the place that was found, who represented, how it was builded, while have become a lot of hypothesis that cannot resolve the problem finally.

Source : : V. Guerin, “Lle de Rhodes” (“Ñüäïò êáé Íåþôåñá Êåßìåíá”), ÁèÞíá 1989
×ñÞóôïõ Ä. ËÜæïõ, "The Kolossus Of Rhodes"“Ï Êïëïóóüò ôçò Ñüäïõ” ÉÓÔÏÑÉÁ ÅÉÊÏÍÏÃÑÁÖÇÌÅÍÇ, áñ.292, ÁèÞíá 1992