Colossus of Rhodes - Sun God Helios - 280-226 BC - One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - Alabaster Statue

Item Specifics

Condition: New, Handmade in Greece.
Material: Alabaster
Height: 18 cm (7")
Width: 10 cm (4")
Weight: 170g

The Colossus of Rhodes was a gigantic 33-metre-high statue of the sun god Helios which stood by the harbour of that city from c. 280 BCE, one of the most important trading ports in the ancient Mediterranean. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it was constructed to celebrate Rhodes victory over the ruler of Cyprus. Helios was the god of the Sun, offspring of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. One place Helios was particularly worshipped was at Rhodes, the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece in the eastern Mediterranean. There he was the most important deity, their patron god, and honoured by the Halieia festival, the highlight of the island’s religious calendar and a Pan-Hellenic games much like the ancient Olympic Games.