로도스의 거상 [Colossus of Rhodes, Greece]

세계 고대 7대 불가사의 중 하나로, 로도스 섬 린두스 시(市)의 카레스가 만든 동상.

로도스가 데메트리우스 폴리오르케테스의 오랜 포위(BC 305~304)에서 풀린 것을 기념해 만들었는데 주재료는 청동(철로 보강하고 돌로 무게를 더함)이며 태양의 신 헬리오스의 상(像)이다. 항구에 세워졌던 이 동상은 높이 30m가 넘으며 상상에 의해 만든 한 돋을새김 작품이 표현하듯이 한 손으로 두 눈을 가리고 있었을지도 모른다. 이 작품이 항구 입구에 양다리를 벌리고 서 있기는 기술적으로 불가능하다. 그렇게 되어 있었다는 많은 사람들의 믿음은 중세시대부터 시작되었다.

이 동상을 건조하는 데 12년이 걸렸으나(BC 292~280경) BC 225년경 지진으로 넘어졌다. 넘어진 거상은 AD 653년까지 그 자리에 남아 있다가 그해 로도스를 기습한 아랍인의 손에 파괴되어 청동은 조각으로 팔려 나갔다. 그 분량은 낙타 900마리에 실을 수 있는 양보다 많았다고 한다. (empas)

The Colossus of Rhodes was one of the Ancient 7 Wonders of the World, chosen by Philon of Byzantium in 200 B.C.

A gigantic bronze statue that once stood 32 meters (110 feet) high on a marble block, the Colossus of Rhodes was built by its citizens to revere the sun god Helios, who was believed to have helped Rhodes ward off the attacking Demetrius of Macedonia. Constructed by the engineer Chares, a native of Rhodes, the Colossus was completed in 280 B.C., after 12 years of careful work. The great challenge was to build the statue so that the legs could sustain the enormous weight. In order to pay for the construction of the Colossus, the Rhodesians sold all of the siege equipment that Demetrius had left behind in front of their city when he retreated.

Ancient accounts describe the statue as being built around several stone columns on the interior, standing on a 15-meter-high (50 feet) white marble pedestal near the harbor entrance.

Iron beams were driven into the stone towers and bronze plates attached to the bars to create the exterior. Much of the material was melted down from the various weapons Demetrius' army had left behind. The upper portions of the statue were built with the help of a large dirt ramp.

Unfortunately, around 224 B.C., an earthquake caused the Colossus to crack at the knee and it collapsed into pieces. Even so, the statue was so admired that it was left lying in huge fragments for around 900 years. Even broken on the ground, the pieces were so impressive that many people came to see them. Pliny the Elder remarked that few people could wrap their arms around the fallen thumb, and that each of its fingers was larger than most statues. In AD 654, an Arab force under Muawiyah I captured Rhodes, and, according to the chronicler Theophanes, the remains were sold to a traveling salesman. The purchaser had the statue broken down and transported the bronze scrap on the backs of 900 camels to Syria.
Copyright Lee Krystek, 1998