The Colossus of Rhodes was a gigantic bronze statue of the sun god Helios (or Apollo) that stood near the harbor of the Mediterranean island of Rhodes in Greece. Its base was made of white marble, and the statue stood approximately 110 feet high.

The island of Rhodes had strong economic ties with their main ally, the Ptolemies of Egypt. In 305 B.C., the Antigonids of Macedonia who were rivals of the Ptolemies, besieged Rhodes in an attempt to break the Rhodes-Egypt alliance. A peace agreement was finally reached in 304 B.C. between the island of Rhodes and the Antigonids. To celebrate their unity, the Rhodians erected an enormous statue of their sun god Helios with the help of Rhodian sculptor Chares of Lindos. Chares took 12 years to finish the statue before he completed it in 282 B.C.

The Colossus stood for years until an earthquake in 226 B.C. hit the island of Rhodes. The city was damaged and the statue was broken at the knee. The statue lay broken in ruins for almost a millennium. The Arabs invaded Rhodes in A.D. 654 and sold the fragments of the broken Colossus. The true shape and appearance of the Colossus is not known.