Colossus of Rhodes to be Rebuilt
Thursday November 20, 2008
Following the trend of making over that which is ancient and crumbly, Greek officials announced this week that the Colossus of Rhodes will be rebuilt. This time around, though, planners say it will be a "highly innovative light sculpture" which will cost around 200 million Euros. I'm not entirely sure what a highly innovative light sculpture includes, but apparently visitors will be able to walk through it, and it will be even bigger than the original Colossus.
I gotta admit, I'm a bit worried it will end up looking more suited to Las Vegas than the coast of Greece.
Anyway, that aside... the original Colossus was built as an homage to Helios, the Greek sun god. Over the course of about a dozen years, it was carved by Chares of Lindos, a well-known sculptor of his time, and was about 120 feet high -- and that's on top of a 25-foot marble base. The Colossus stood guard over Rhodes before an earthquake felled it in 226BC. Pliny the Elder said, "Even lying on the ground... it is a marvel."
I gotta admit, I'm a bit worried it will end up looking more suited to Las Vegas than the coast of Greece.
Anyway, that aside... the original Colossus was built as an homage to Helios, the Greek sun god. Over the course of about a dozen years, it was carved by Chares of Lindos, a well-known sculptor of his time, and was about 120 feet high -- and that's on top of a 25-foot marble base. The Colossus stood guard over Rhodes before an earthquake felled it in 226BC. Pliny the Elder said, "Even lying on the ground... it is a marvel."
Comments
I’d always read that the size and design of the original were still up for debate. Conflicting reports, drawings that wouldn’t work in the real world, lack of remains.
But whatever the case, I’ve always found the Colossus a fascinating subject. Part of me wants to cry ’sacrilege’ but the fact that they want to do something completely different I think is much cooler. It’s like remaking a song; better to make it your own than try and copy the original!