WONDERS OF THE WORLD
THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES
Greece
The Sun God, Bold and Bronze
The gleaming bronze statue only stood for 54 years, yet it has remained in our collective consciousness for millennia.
The people of the prosperous Greek island of Rhodes built the ten-story tall Colossus in 280 BCE, following their unlikely victory against the forces of famed "Besieger of Cities" Demetrius Poliorcetes. It stood long enough to be noticed by Antipater of Sidon and other travelers of the early Hellenistic Age, who immediately included it in all their travel guides.
In this episode, we head to Rhodes, and hear them undergo not one but two separate sieges. We discuss where the statue might have been, and why it was unlikely to straddle the harbor as seen in the above illustration. We also sample some classic Rhodian food with all the garlic that implies, including pitaroudia: delicious and additive chickpea fritters.
Sources:
Crowley, Roger, Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World
The Lonely Planet Guide to the Greek Islands
Reynolds et al, The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World: the Great Monuments and How They Were Built
Romer, John and Elizabeth, The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: a History of the Modern Imagination
Engraving from the Geographic Dictionary