The Ancient Greeks were the best stonemasons and sculptors of the Classical Era. Sure, you had the Romans, but they tended to either copy Greek designs or simply duplicate their statues for the most part.It doesn't help that your opinion is dead wrong Mr. Strawman Argument, but face it: the Greeks were the true innovators and masters of their craft, especially when it came to stone and metal work. The ultimate culmination of that work would have to be the Colossus of Rhodes.
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| So what? It's a Drawing? |
Sadly, we don't have any real remains of the Colossus, which was destroyed in a massive earthquake back in 226 BC, but this thing was beyond impressive back in the day. In fact, this thing was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, standing alongside the Pyramids of Giza and the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos. It was over thirty meters tall, or about a hundred or so feet tall in imperial. To give you an idea on how tall this thing was, it's two thirds the size of the Statue of Liberty, which is impressive considering that the latter was made with far more modern techniques. It's even funnier because the Statue of Liberty actually drew a lot of inspiration from the Colossus in its design and construction.
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| Rip-off artists... |
Now, I love the Colossus for several reasons, despite it not being in a state of existance anymore. For one thing, the materials that made the Colossus further adds to how it was a propaganda piece; it was forged from the weapons left behind by the invading army of Cyprus, which attacked Rhodes back in 305 BC. That just adds that fun little twist that we see in quite a few Greek pieces; not only is it a piece that was designed to show the triumph of Rhodes over Cyprus, but it also adds just a little salt into the wound by being MADE from the weapons of their defeated enemies. I guess that's another hint that I'm a jerk, since I thought that was cool.
I also like the techniques that were used in its construction of the Colossus. Since having a pure bronze stature would be beyond expensive for the size they wanted, the Greeks of Rhodes decided to innovate. Like the Statue of Liberty, the Colossus had a bronze "skin" that was reinforced with iron ribbing. On top of that, it was then filled in with stone, to make doubly sure that the statue would remain intact. Talk about ingenious.
Finally, I love it because it was the inspiration for one of our most well known icons: the Statue of Liberty. The engineers that designed her based a lot of her design on how the Colossus was built, and it shows. Heck, there's a sonnet on the pedestal that describes the Statue of Liberty as the "New Colossus". Here's to hoping our Colossus doesn't suffer any accidents.
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| You maniacs! You blew it up! |
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Yeah, like that. Let's hope that doesn't happen.
Shakespeare says
ReplyDelete"Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus, and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs and peep about
To find ourselves dishonorable graves"
(Julius Caesar)
The question is, did this statue really straddle the harbor? This is highly unlikely since we have no recording of them closing the harbor during construction or after it fell. Hmmm. Wonder why modern artists portray him in this manner.
Joe, I really like how you have added a twist on the Statute Of Liberty into the mix of this specific era in time. Also, I like how there was some comedic parts, especially at the end when the Statute of Liberty is supposedly portrayed as being destroyed or seem to be sinking in the sand. Very cool.
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