COLOSSUS (Lat., from Gk. KoXoo-o-65, Kolos sos). A rare Greek word of unknown origin, used to denote a statue very greatly above the size of life. In English, the adjective colossal is used in a somewhat wider sense, to denote all statues which exceed the size of life. The colossal was the peculiar characteristic of Egyp tian art, and innumerable colossi were raised in Egypt, mostly of the hardest stone, many of them 50 to 60 feet in height. Among the most cele brated are the two statues of Amenophis III., near Thebes, one of which was called by the Greeks 'Memnon,' and famed for its supposed vocal qualities. But it was in the artistic world of Greece that the most famous colossi appeared: e.g., the bronze statue of Pallas Athene, on the acropolis of Athens, the plume of whose helmet and the point of whose spear were landmarks to sailors between Sunium and Athens; another statue of the same goddess, of gold and ivory. in the Parthenon at Athens; and the Olympian Zeus, of the same material, the masterpiece of Phidias, who was also the author of the two statues just mentioned. Among the seven won ders of the old world was reckoned the gigantic Colossus of Rhodes, representing llelios, the sun god, the national deity of the Rhodians. It is said to have been the work of Chares, of Limit's, a famous pupil of Lysippus. It was erected by the Rhodians, at a cost of 300 talents, apparently as a thank-offe•ing after the successful defense of the city against Demetrius. It is said to have been of bronze, cast in separate pieces, and to have occupied the artist twelve years. It was set
up about B.C. 280, but fifty-six years later was overthrown by an earthquake, and lay in ruins, until in A.n. 653 the Arabs captured the city and sold the metal to a .Jewish merchant. The height is variously stated, but was probably about 00 feet. The Hellenistic age seems to have taken delight in colossal statues and groups, and the Romans followed the Greeks. We hear of a statue of Jupiter on the Capitol made from the spoils of the `aconites. of such a size as to be visible from the Alban Hills. More celebrated was a Colossus of Nero, exe cuted in marble, of the enormous height of 110. or 120 feet, from which the neighboring amphi theatre is believed to have derived the name of 'Colosseum.' At the death of Nero the head was changed to that of the sun-god. It was subsequently moved by Hadrian to make room for his temple of Venus, and finally disap peared during the Middle Ages. Its later pedes tal was discovered in 1828, and may be seen between the Colosseum and the temple built by Hadrian. In modern times many colossal statues have been set up. Especially celebrated are the "Bavaria," at Munich, the "Germania," at the Niederwald on the Rhine, the equestrian statue of Peter the Great in Saint Petersburg, and the Bartholdi statue of 'Liberty Enlighten ing the World," in New York Harbor.