Thank you for visiting SNEWPapers!
Sign up free
The Star
Reynoldsville, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania
What is this article about?
Account of the Colossus of Rhodes, a bronze statue of Phoebus built in 285 B.C. by Chares and Laches, standing 105 feet tall astride the harbor. It featured a spiral staircase and mirror, cost 300 talents, was toppled by earthquake after 64 years, and remains sold in A.D. 672.
Clipping
OCR Quality
Full Text
One of the Ancient Seven Wonders of the World.
The ancients succeeded in making that alloy of copper which is known as bronze. Among the seven wonders of the world was the famous statue, wholly made of bronze, historically known as the colossus of Rhodes. It represented Phoebus, the national deity of the Rhodians. It was begun by Chares, a pupil of Lysippus, the sculptor, and was completed by Laches 285 B. C.
The popular belief is that it stood astride the harbor of Rhodes, that it was 105 feet high and that ships could easily sail between its legs.
Pliny said that few men could clasp its thumb. It was cast on metal plates, afterward joined together, and this process occupied twelve years. In the interior was a spiral staircase reaching into its head, and in a great mirror suspended to its neck were reflected the coast of Syria and the ships sailing to Egypt.
After it had stood for sixty-four years this colossus was overthrown by an earthquake, and its remains lay on the shore for 923 years—that is, until A. D. 672—when they were sold by the Saracens to a Hebrew dealer. The original cost was 300 talents—say, $600,000—and it is not too much to say that a similar image might be constructed now in one-fourth of the time and at one-third of the original cost.
Rhodes, by the way, must have had colossus on the brain, for Pliny relates that the port was adorned with 1,000 colossal statues of the sun.
What sub-type of article is it?
What themes does it cover?
What keywords are associated?
What entities or persons were involved?
Where did it happen?
Story Details
Key Persons
Location
Rhodes
Event Date
Begun And Completed 285 B.C., Overthrown After Sixty Four Years, Remains Lay For 923 Years Until A.D. 672
Story Details
The Colossus of Rhodes was a bronze statue of Phoebus built by Chares, pupil of Lysippus, and completed by Laches in 285 B.C. It stood 105 feet high astride the harbor, with ships sailing between its legs, a spiral staircase to the head, and a mirror reflecting coasts and ships. Cost 300 talents. Overthrown by earthquake after 64 years, remains on shore for 923 years until sold by Saracens to a Hebrew dealer in A.D. 672. Rhodes had 1,000 colossal statues of the sun.