# Did the Colossus Bestride the Harbor? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 16, 2019, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-colossus-bestride-the-harbor/834038 "2019-05-16T05:28:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-colossus-bestride-the-harbor/834038/1 "2019-05-16T05:28:46Z")
> [@](#): > > "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’s _Julius Caesar_. So Shakespeare apparently thought he did. The Colossus at Rhodes was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. And some people claim, at least part of his claim to fame, was that he literally bestrode or straddled the harbor at Rhodes (which if true, would be an amazing accomplishment even today). Anyways, this is a purely factual question. Did he or didn’t he bestride the harbor? Thank you in advance for all your kindly replies:). :):):)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-colossus-bestride-the-harbor/834038/2 "2019-05-16T05:55:02Z")
No, impossible. From contemporary accounts the statue was around 30 metres tall. [Here’s a statue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jai_Hanuman.jpg)that’s about the same size (32 m). You aren’t getting any ships in between those legs. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-colossus-bestride-the-harbor/834038/3 "2019-05-16T07:31:34Z")
The Shakespeare quote doesn’t actually read like it advocates straddling the harbour to me, or surely we would be _swimming_ under his huge legs, not walking? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-colossus-bestride-the-harbor/834038/4 "2019-05-16T09:28:57Z")
Is there any cite that suggests that it _“straddled the harbor at Rhodes”?_ According to Wikipedia, the structure stood on a 15-metre-high (49-foot) white marble pedestal near the Mandraki harbour entrance. Other sources place the Colossus on a breakwater in the harbour. > **[Colossus of Rhodes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_of_Rhodes)** > > The Colossus of Rhodes (Ancient Greek: ὁ Κολοσσὸς Ῥόδιος, romanized: ho Kolossòs Rhódios Greek: Κολοσσός της Ρόδου, romanized: Kolossós tes Rhódou)\[a\] was a statue of the Greek sun-god Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes, on the Greek island of the same name, by Chares of Lindos in 280 BC. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it was constructed to celebrate the successful defence of Rhodes city against an attack by Demetrius Poliorcetes, who had besieged it for a year with a large a... ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-colossus-bestride-the-harbor/834038/5 "2019-05-16T11:56:02Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Is there any cite that suggests that it _“straddled the harbor at Rhodes”?_ > > According to Wikipedia, the structure stood on a 15-metre-high (49-foot) white marble pedestal near the Mandraki harbour entrance. Other sources place the Colossus on a breakwater in the harbour. > > [Colossus of Rhodes - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_of_Rhodes) As the Wikipedia article observes: > [@](#): > > The harbour-straddling Colossus was a figment of medieval imaginations based on the dedication text’s mention of “over land 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 of St John of the Colossus was then located.[16] Many later illustrations show the statue with one foot on either side of the harbour mouth with ships passing under it. References to this conception are also found in literary works. I don’t know of any ancient source that says or suggests that the statue straddled the harbor. I’ve seen artwork showing this, but that’s all post-Medieval. Certainly the image is striking. The 1961 Sergio Leone film **Colossus of Rhodes** has the statue straddling the harbor entrance (The statue also holds a bowl of burning material that it releases onto a ship passing beneath). The statue is depicted straddling the harbor on posters for the film. > **[The Colossus of Rhodes (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Colossus_of_Rhodes_(film))** > > The Colossus of Rhodes (Italian: Il Colosso di Rodi) is a 1961 Italian sword and sandal film co-written and directed by Sergio Leone. Starring Rory Calhoun, it is a fictional account of the island of Rhodes during its classical period in the late third century BCE before coming under Roman control, using the Colossus of Rhodes as a backdrop for the story of a war hero who becomes involved in two different plots to overthrow a tyrannical king: one by Rhodian patriots and the other by Phoenician ag... Ray Harryhausen echoed the colossus in **Jason and the Argonauts** (1963), when the bronze giant Talos straddles the harbor to block and grab the _Argo_. > **[Talos of Crete: A 2,000-Year-Old Tale of the First Robot God](https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends-europe/talos-00157)** > > Believe it or not, but ideas of artificial intelligence and automata were alive and well over 2,000 years ago within Greek mythology. The myth of Talos (‘Τάλως’)—the first robot-like creature in mythology In the HBO series **Game of THrones** , based on Martin’s books, they depicted the Titan of Braavos straddling the harbor, as the Colossus was held to have done. They even showed it in the opening animation. Constructing a statue on two relatively thin legs at an angle that could support the weight of the torso and even the relatively thin bronze “skin” of the Colossus really would have been beyond the capability of engineers at the time. An interesting fictional account of its construction is **The Bronze God of Rhodes** by L. Sprague de Camp, a historical and sf/fantasy writer who wrote the classic nonfiction book **The Ancient Engineers** , so he knew what he was writing about. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-colossus-bestride-the-harbor/834038/6 "2019-05-16T14:52:33Z")
**CalMeacham:**. Thanks for the link to the very enjoyable Ancient Origins article. I was especially delighted by the author’s hypothesis that Talos really existed, and was some kind of space alien. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-colossus-bestride-the-harbor/834038/7 "2019-05-16T15:02:20Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > No, impossible. > > From contemporary accounts the statue was around 30 metres tall. [Here’s a statue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jai_Hanuman.jpg)that’s about the same size (32 m). You aren’t getting any ships in between those legs. Sounds dinghy to me, too. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-colossus-bestride-the-harbor/834038/8 "2019-05-16T15:19:45Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > **CalMeacham:**. Thanks for the link to the very enjoyable Ancient Origins article. I was especially delighted by the author’s hypothesis that Talos really existed, and was some kind of space alien. There is a vast range of theories and beliefs that constantly inspire wonder. But I was just posting for the picture. Regarding Talos, by the way, Harryhausen’s interpretation of him as a giant statue has colored our beliefs about him. I’m sure Ray took the Colossus of Rhodes as his inspiration, and he really likes those photogenic giant things. But most ancient sources about Talos don’t imply that he was a giant. artwork depicts hi as human-sized: > **[Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. on the "progress" towards the integration of...](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/476044623090462531/)** > > Jun 11, 2022 - Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. on the "progress" towards the integration of machines into humans. This seems very much a case of something we can do but shouldn't. > **[Ancient myths reveal early fantasies about artificial life](https://news.stanford.edu/2019/02/28/ancient-myths-reveal-early-fantasies-artificial-life/)** > > In her latest research, Stanford classics scholar Adrienne Mayor highlights ancient Greek myths that contained ideas about creating artificial, lifelike creatures. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-colossus-bestride-the-harbor/834038/9 "2019-05-16T15:27:31Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > artwork depicts hi as human-sized: > [https://www.pinterest.com/pin/476044623090462531/](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/476044623090462531/) > [Ancient myths reveal early fantasies about artificial life](https://news.stanford.edu/2019/02/28/ancient-myths-reveal-early-fantasies-artificial-life/) [Confirmed.](https://www.comicskingdom.com/hi-and-lois/2019-05-14) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-colossus-bestride-the-harbor/834038/10 "2019-05-16T16:04:58Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > [Confirmed.](https://www.comicskingdom.com/hi-and-lois/2019-05-14) Yes, but Hi wasn’t made of bronze and human-sized. Talos was. Hi changed his appearance through the life of the strip. He started out as a slim, typical; “TV Dad”. At one point he had a broken nose > **[8 Things You Might Not Know About Hi and Lois](https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/544551/facts-about-hi-and-lois-comic-strip)** > > Hi, the middle-aged father of this long-running suburban strip, was originally a bit of a tough guy. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-colossus-bestride-the-harbor/834038/11 "2019-05-16T18:33:01Z")
You’re wondering exactly how similar the Titan of Braavos is to the Colossus of Rhodes, aren’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-colossus-bestride-the-harbor/834038/12 "2019-05-17T04:24:56Z")
Side question: are there any (recognizable) left over parts of the COR laying around? ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-colossus-bestride-the-harbor/834038/13 "2019-05-17T05:01:58Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > Side question: are there any (recognizable) left over parts of the COR laying around? The wiki indicates that they lay on the ground after a great earthquake for many years until muslims melted the statue down and sold the bronze to “a Jew”. The more things change the more they remain the same! I have my doubts about the veracity of that story. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-colossus-bestride-the-harbor/834038/14 "2019-05-17T16:50:05Z")
> [@pool](#): > > The wiki indicates that they lay on the ground after a great earthquake for many years until muslims melted the statue down and sold the bronze to “a Jew”. The more things change the more they remain the same! I have my doubts about the veracity of that story. It’s actually more likely that it was sold to Julius Caesar, who was looking for some kind of gift to get him in bed with Cleopatra. That’s a ‘Seven Wonders of the World’ woosh- see ‘Library of Alexandria’ ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-colossus-bestride-the-harbor/834038/15 "2019-05-18T01:47:31Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > No, impossible. > > From contemporary accounts the statue was around 30 metres tall. [Here’s a statue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jai_Hanuman.jpg)that’s about the same size (32 m). You aren’t getting any ships in between those legs. You really think not? [Here’s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_of_Rhodes#/media/File:Rhodes0211.jpg) an artist’s conception of the Colossus of Rhodes. As you can see, his feet are not planted in the rocks at the mouth of the harbor; he’s elevated on twin towers, each about 40 feet off the ground. His crotch is an additional 40 feet above the water (so 80 feet above the water), and his legs appear to be spread at about a 40[sup]o[/sup]; this places his feet at an approximate distance of 2[40 x (tan20)] which my calculator tells me is about 29 feet. Is 29 feet a particularly narrow beam for ships that sailed in the 4th century BCE? The submarines I served aboard 2400 years later only exceeded that by about 2 feet! The engineering problems inherent to the construction of such a statue (especially at that point in history) are, admittedly, knotty.\* But so are those inherent in the erection of the (somewhat) contemporaneous Pyramids in Egypt, the more contemporaneous Stonehenge and the less contemporaneous Chichen Itza. And the Jai Hanuman statue isn’t even attempting to present a particularly wide stance. Perhaps we shouldn’t squabble over niggling details. \*Maybe geysers came into play in that proje-- OUCH! Who threw that? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-colossus-bestride-the-harbor/834038/16 "2019-05-18T12:02:52Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Is 29 feet a particularly narrow beam for ships that sailed in the 4th century BCE? The submarines I served aboard 2400 years later only exceeded that by about 2 feet! Did your submarine have banks of oars? Plus with wind and currents, the leeway needed for an unmotored ship is far higher. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-colossus-bestride-the-harbor/834038/17 "2019-05-18T12:41:47Z")
The “knotty engineering problem of the Pyramids” is “There are many ways they could have done this, but we don’t know which exact one of those many ways they used”. The “knotty engineering problem of the bestriding Colossus” is “There’s no way they could have done that”. Completely different.