The Colossus of Rhodes

The bronze statue was considered a wonder.

The Colossus of Rhodes

 

By Elton Camp

 

Place where a huge statue of Helios came to be

Was Rhodes, an island in the Mediterranean Sea

An army came to the city of Rhodes, to destroy all

But it was well protected by a wall so strong and tall

 

Siege towers were the only way the army might get in

So a supertower on wheels seemed just the way to win

City’s defenders flooded a ditch in the machine’s way

The heavy tower mired in the mud and there did stay

 

A fleet of friendly ships from Egypt then did arrive

And from Rhodes they did the attacking army drive

The mighty siege tower were forced to leave there

Rhodians thought victory came since Helios did care

 

As Helios was believed the ancient city’s patron god

To build a statue in his honor, nobody thought odd

The attacking army had left behind bronze galore

The huge siege tower was added to the statue’s core

 

Charles of Lindos was the expert sculptor who knew

How to construct the colossus and what they should do

To get the plates of bronze in place he wasn’t baffled

He simply used remains of the siege tower as a scaffold

 

Tradition tells that the harbor the colossus’ legs did span

The truth was that it stood on a pedestal entirely on land

Fifty-six years the Colossus of Rhodes stayed in place

Then a sudden earthquake made it collapse into waste

 

For centuries, gigantic pieces along the city harbor lie

To rebuild the Colossus the Rhodians wouldn’t try

When it was suggested, they’d shake in fear and frown

“Our god Helios was displeased and he threw it down.”

 

The statue was, of the ancient world, judged a wonder

Although the colossus was rather quickly ripped asunder

The island was eventually conquered by an Arab chap

And, on camels, he carted off the pieces and sold as scrap