I Can’t Sleep - The Colossus of Rhodes | Calm Bedtime Reading for Sleep

Episode Date: June 19, 2019

Ease into rest with calm bedtime reading about the Colossus of Rhodes to help with insomnia and sleepless nights. This soothing episode explores the history of the massive bronze statue, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, built to celebrate a great victory. Benjamin’s gentle cadence transforms history into relaxation, guiding you through the story of its construction, significance, and eventual fall. With no whispering or hypnosis—just calm, fact-filled storytelling—you’ll find stress easing and your mind settling. Press play and drift peacefully into sleep. Want More? Request a Topic: https://www.icantsleeppodcast.com/request-a-topic Ad-Free Episodes: https://icantsleep.supportingcast.fm/ Shop Sleep-Friendly Products: https://www.icantsleeppodcast.com/sponsors Join the Discussion on Discord: https://discord.gg/myhGhVUhn7 This content is derived from the Wikipedia article on Colossus of Rhodes, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. Read the full article: Wikipedia – Colossus of Rhodes. Happy sleeping! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to a Glassbox media podcast. What if I told you that most of the modern day self-help advice you've been hearing could actually make you worse? The key to a better life isn't about feel-good gimmicks that sound catchy. The Mentally Stronger Podcast gives you access to a licensed therapist who shares science-backed tools that will actually change your life. Hi, I'm Amy Morin, psychotherapist, mental strength trainer, and international best-selling author. In each episode, we cover research-back strategies, like how to stop relying on willpower and start creating habits for lasting change. And the five mental strength-building exercises you can do from your couch.

I also speak to world-class experts like Dr. Nicole Kane, who shares how to permanently heal anxiety by addressing the root cause. With over 200 episodes in our catalog, this podcast is for you if you're ready to crush self-doubt, conquer challenges, and become stronger than ever with therapist-approved strategies that can change your life. Listen to Mentally Stronger with Therapist Amy Morin, wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the I Can't Sleep podcast, where I read random articles to pour you to sleep with my soothing voice. I'm your host, Benjamin Boster. This episode is from a Wikipedia article titled Colossus of Rhodes.

The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek sun god Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes on the Greek island of the same name by Charles of Lindos in 280 BC. one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was constructed to celebrate Rhodes' victory over the ruler of Cyprus, Antigonus I, Monophthalamus, whose son Demetrius I of Macedon, unsuccessfully besieged Rhodes in 305 BC. According to most contemporary descriptions, the Colossus stood over. approximately 70 cubits or 33 meters high.

The approximate height of the modern statue of Liberty from feet to crown, making it the tallest statue of the ancient world. It collapsed during the earthquake of 226 BC, although parts of it were preserved. It was never rebuilt. As of 2015, there are tentative plans to build a new colossus at Rhodes Harbor, although the actual location of the original remains in dispute.

In the late 4th century BC, Rhodes allied with Tolmi I of Egypt, prevented a mass invasion staged by their common enemy, Antigonus Inafthumus. In 304 BC, a relief force of ships sent by Ptolemy arrived, and Demetrius, son of Antigonus, and his army abandoned the siege, leaving behind most of their siege equipment. To celebrate their victory, the Rhodians sold the equipment left behind for 300 talents, and decided to use the money to build a colossal statue of their patron god Helios. Construction was left to the direction of Karras, a native of Lindos in Rhodes,

who had been involved with large-scale statues before. His teacher, the sculptor Lysopas, had constructed a 22-meter-high bronze statue, statue of Zeus at Tarantum. Construction began in 292 BC. Ancient accounts, which differ to some degree, described the structure as being built with iron tie bars to which brass plates were fixed to form the skin. The interior of the structure, which stood on a 15-meter high white marble pedestal near the Mandraki Harbor entrance, was then filled with stone blocks as construction progressed. Other sources placed the colossus on a breakwater in the harbor. According to most contemporary descriptions, the statue itself is about 70,000.

cubits or 33 meters tall. Much of the iron and bronze was forged from various weapons Demetrius' army left behind, and the abandoned second siege tower may have been used for scaffolding around the lower levels during construction. Upper portions were built with the use of large earthen ramp. During the building, workers would pile mass. bounds of earth on the sides of the Colossus. Upon completion, all of the earth was removed, and the Colossus was left to stand alone. After 12 years in 280 BC, the statue was completed. Preserved in Greek anthologies of poetry is what is believed to be the genuine dedication text for the Colossus.

To you, O Son, the people of Dori, roads set up this bronze statue, reaching to Olympus, when they had pacified the waves of war and crowned their city with the spoils taken from the enemy. Not only over the seas, but also on land did they kindle the lovely torch of freedom and independence. For to the descendants of Heracles belongs dominion over sea and land. Modern engineers have put forward a plausible hypothesis for the statue's construction, based on the technology of the time, which was not based on the modern principles of earthquake engineering, and the accounts of Philo and Pliny who saw and described the ruins. The base pedestal was said to be at least eight

18 meters in diameter and either circular or octagonal. The feet were carved in stone and covered with bronze plates riveted together. Eight forged iron bars set in a radiating horizontal position, formed the ankles, and turned up to follow the lines of the legs while becoming progressively smaller. individually cast curved bronze plates, 60 inches square with turned-in edges, were joined together by rivets through holes formed during casting

to form a series of rings. The lower plates were one inch in thickness to the knee and three-quarter inch thick from knee to abdomen. While the upper plates were a quarter to a half-inch thick, except where additional strength was required at joints, such as the shoulder and neck, etc. The statue stood for 54 years until Rhodes was hit by the 226 BC earthquake, when significant damage was also done to large portions of the city,

including the harbor and commercial buildings which were destroyed. the statue snapped at the knees and fell onto the land. Ptolemy III offered to pay for the reconstruction of the statue, but the Oracle of Delphi made the Rhodians afraid that they had offended Helios, and they declined to rebuild it. The remains lay on the ground as described by Strabo for over 800 years, and even broken, they were so impressive that, Many traveled 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 653, an Arab force under the Muslim Caliph Mojia I, the first, captured Rhodes, and according to the chronicle of Theophanes the confessor, the statue was melted down and sold to a Jewish. Jewish merchant of Edessa who loaded the bronze on 900 camels. The Arab destruction and the purported sale to a Jew possibly originated as a powerful metaphor for Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the destruction of a great statue. The same story is recorded by Bar Hebraeus, writing in Syriac in the 13th century in Odessa.

after the Arab pillage of roads And a great number of men hauled on strong ropes Which were tied round the brass colossus Which was in the city and pulled it down And they weighed from it 3,000 loads of Corinthian brass And they sold it to a certain Jew from Mesa

The Syrian city of Homes Theophanes is the sole source of this account, and all other sources can be traced to him. The harbor straddling colossus was a figment of medieval imaginations, based on the dedication text mention of overland and sea twice, and the writings of an Italian visitor who in 1395 noted that local tradition held that the right foot had stood where the church, Church of St. John of the Colossus was then located. Many later illustrations show the statue with one foot on each side of the harbor mouth,

with ships passing under it. References to this conception are also found in literary works. Shakespeare's Cassius and Julius Caesar says of Caesar, 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. Shakespeare alludes to the Colossus also in Troilus and Crescita, and in Henry IV, Part 1. The New Colossus, 1883, a sonnet by Emma Lazarus written on a cast bronze, plaque and mounted inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in 1903 contrasts the latter with

the brazen giant of Greek fame with conquering limbs astride from land to land. While these fanciful images feed the misconception, the mechanics of the situation revealed that the Colossus could not have straddled the harbor as described in Limpriarie's classical dictionary. If the completed statue had straddled the harbor, the entire mouth of the harbor would have been effectively closed during the entirety of the construction. And the ancient Rhodians did not have the means to dredge and reopen the harbor after construction. Also, the fallen statue would have blocked the harbor, and since the ancient Rhodians did not have the ability to remove the fallen statue from the harbor, it would not have remained visible on land for the next 800 years, as discussed above.

Even neglecting these objections, the statue was made of bronze, and engineering analyses indicate that it could not have been built with its legs apart without collapsing under its own weight. Many researchers have considered alternative positions for the statue, which would have made it more feasible for actual construction by the ancients. There's also no evidence that the statue held a torch aloft. The records simply say that after completion, the Rhodians kindled the torch of freedom. A relief in a nearby temple shows Helios standing with one hand shielding his eyes, similar to the way a person shields their eyes when looking toward the sun. And it is quite possible that the Colossus was constructed in the same pose.

While scholars do not know what the statue looked like, they do have a good idea of what the head and face looked like, as it was of a standard rendering at the time. The head would have had curly hair with evenly spaced spikes of bronze or silver flame radiating, similar to the images found on contemporary Rhodian coins. While scholars generally agree that anecdotal depictions of the colossus straddling the harbor's entry point have no historic or scientific basis, the monument's actual location remains a matter of debate. The floor of the fortress of St. Nicholas near the harbor entrance contains a circle of sandstone blocks of unknown origin or purpose. Curved blocks of marble that were incorporated into the fortress structure

are considered too intricately cut to have been quarried for that purpose, have been posited as the remnants of a marble base for the Colossus, which would have stood on the sandstone block foundation. Archaeologist Ursula Vetter postulates that the Colossus was not located in the harbor area at all, but rather was part of the Acropolis of Rhodes, which stood on a hill that overlooks the port area. The ruins of a large temple traditionally thought to have been, been dedicated to Apollo are situated at the highest point of the hill.

Vedder believes that the construction would actually have been a helios sanctuary and a portion of its enormous stone foundation could have served as the supporting platform for the Colossus. In 2008, the Guardian reported that a modern colossus was to be built at the harbor entrance by German artists Gerd off, leading a Colonia-based team. It was to be a giant light sculpture made partially out of melted-down weapons from around the world. It would cost up to 200 million euros. In December 2015, a group of European architects announced plans to build a modern colossus bestrating two piers at the harbor entrance,

despite a preponderance of evidence and scholarly appearance. that the original monument could not have stood there. The new statue, 150 meters tall, five times the height of the original, would cost an estimated $283 million, funded by private donations and crowdsourcing. The statue would include a cultural center, a library, an exhibition hall, and a lighthouse all powered by solar panels. As of October 2018, no such plans have been carried out, and the website for the project is offline.