Colossus of Rhodes - Popular Culture

Popular Culture

  • In the Shakespearean play Julius Caesar, Cassius personifies Caesar as 'a Colossus' (Scene 1, Act 2, l.135), a reference to the Rhodes statue.
  • In Sergio Leone's sword and sandal film Il Colosso di Rodi (1961) the Colossus stands spread-legged over the only entrance to Rhodes' harbour. In this instance the statue is hollow (like the Statue of Liberty) and is armed with defensive weaponry.
  • Sylvia Plath's poem "The Colossus", refers to the Colossus of Rhodes.
  • In the PlayStation 2 game God of War II, both Rhodes and the Colossus of Rhodes are featured at the start of the game, offering an interactive theory as to how the Colossus was destroyed. The Colossus of Rhodes was brought to life by Zeus to kill the protagonist Kratos, however, Kratos destroys the Colossus.
  • In the novel Seven Ancient Wonders by Australian novelist Matthew Reilly, The Colossus is fictionalised to have been holding a piece of the Golden Capstone (which fictionally sat atop the Great Pyramid) and after being felled by the earthquake, was hidden in a trap laden abandoned mine.
  • The novel The Bronze God of Rhodes by L. Sprague de Camp is a fictionalized account of the building of the Colossus.
  • In the Civilization (series) and Rise of Nations, 'The Colossus' is one of the first wonders available.
  • In the video game Talismania, one of the levels consists of building the Colossus to scare away the Kraken.
  • The season 4 episode of Warehouse 13, Endless Wonder, featured a bowl carved from the ruins of the Colossus as the main artifact of the episode. It had the effect of causing rapid growth in anyone who touched it to the point of the body tearing itself apart from strain.

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