Stamp Story, No. 34 NO SUCH COLOSSUS

Press, Volume C, Issue 29608, 2 September 1961, Page 8

Stamp Story, No. 34 NO SUCH COLOSSUS

[By

KEN ANTHONY

rpHE Colossus of Rhodes, one A of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, stood on an island full of history and legend. Rhodes is one of the Dodecanese group of islands in the Aegean, and though only 12 miles from the Turkish coast it is today part of Greece.

And it was Greece, whose proud classical heritage has been portrayed on many stamp designs, that produced the stamp illustrated here in 1947. It was part of a set celebrating the return of the Dodecanese after more than 30 years of Italian occupation. The huge bronze statue— Pliny, the Roman historian, wrote that few men could grasp its thumb in their arms —is shown here standing astride the harbour.

But modern experts consider this is incorrect. They believe that the Colossus

was about 100 feet high and stood with its feet together at the end of the long harbour mole.

This work of art may well have had a practical purpose, too. Some historians believe that a beacon shone out from the eyes as a guide to shipping. It was erected in about 280 8.C., but it stood for only 56 years before it was thrown down by an earthquake. There it lay in the harbour, neglected for centuries, until the Saracens, who conquered Rhodes in the 7th Century, allowed a scrap merchant to take it away. It is said that he carried off 900 camel loads of bronze! When the Italians took over, after the TurkishItalian war of 1912, Rhodes had its own stamps for a number of years. Then, after the last war, British troops were in occupation. For nearly 18 months, the British stamps were in use, overprinted M.E.F. (Middle East Forces), until the island was returned to Greece.— (Central Press Features. All Rights Reserved).