Colossal vanishing act

How could something so big and so impressive simply disappear?

That’s a question that was recently bothering me, and maybe it’s bothered you, too?

I’m talking, of course, about the Colossus of Rhodes.

The Colossus is one of the “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World,” all of which have now been destroyed in one way or another — except the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, which is also the oldest, having been constructed around 2500 B.C.

The Colossus was far younger than the famous pyramid, built in 292 B.C. after 12 years of construction. A tribute to the sun god, Helios, it was erected by the citizens of the Greek island in thanks after turning back an invasion in 305 B.C.

The statue had an iron “skeleton” that was covered with bronze plates and stood 108 feet tall — just shy of the 151-foot-high Statue of Liberty.

Some accounts say the Colossus straddled the opening of Rhodes’ harbor, but that has largely been dismissed in favor of it standing tall to one side of the harbor’s opening to the sea.

But here’s the really interesting part: The Colossus stood at the harbor entrance for only 54 years before an earthquake in 238 B.C. snapped the Big Guy’s knees and it came crashing to the ground.

History tells us the citizens of Rhodes considered rebuilding the Colossus but ultimately decided against it, leaving the ruins where they lay. But that didn’t stop people from traveling from far and wide to view the statue’s remains.

In fact, the ruins lay where they fell until 654 A.D. — a total of nearly 900 years — before another invading army leader ordered the statue to be melted down and sold to a merchant. It is said the merchant loaded the Colossus pieces onto 900 camels and hauled it all away.

Where those pieces ended up — or if they were converted into something else at all significant — is lost to history.

In modern times, there have been several attempts to rebuild the Colossus, but all fizzled out. The most that’s happened — Colossus-wise — was an Italian movie in 1961 that had star Rory Calhoun sword fighting atop the giant’s shoulders.

What the Colossus actually looked like is unknown. Most depictions have him bare-chested while holding a torch above his head. Some have him clothed in a short skirt or loincloth, while others have him proudly standing naked.

Today, the Colossus of Rhodes is simply something once astonishing that has vanished into the mists of history. But as long as people like me keep writing about him, perhaps the Big Guy will never be forgotten.