The text discusses the origin and appropriateness of colossal statues. It explains their Greek etymology and links them to powerful deities, contrasting with Roman Emperors' inappropriate claims to such symbols. Additionally, it touches on the proportional differences between large and small statues, referencing historical examples from Pliny.
THEORY
Inside, it is said that this name is derived from the two Greek words "μέγας" (megas), meaning 'great', and "ὤεος" (oculus), meaning 'eye', as if saying large to the eye. Others say that these statues were named after a certain Colossus, their inventor. Regardless, these colossal statues are only fitting for the most powerful gods, like Jupiter, Minerva, Apollo, Mars, and other similar deities. It was inappropriate, therefore, for Roman Emperors and some barbarian kings to claim this honor, as well as that of triumphal arches, according to the report by Pliny, who claims that Emperor Nero ordered a colossal painting of him on canvas, measuring 120 feet in height. Pliny, Book XXV, Chapter VII. He also mentioned that Phidias made two figures in a mantle that Catulus placed in the temple of Fortune in Rome, along with another colossal figure that was nude. Pliny, Book XXXIV, Chapter VIII. In Rhodes, there was a colossal bronze statue of the Sun, made by Chares, a student of Lysippos, which was 70 cubits tall. It was situated at the entrance of the port of Rhodes, and ships would sail with full sails between its legs. It was rightly considered one of the Seven Wonders of the world. We will discuss this further later.
"Small statues are called those that are below the size of a human: here are their proportions. By dividing the ordinary height of a man into four equal parts, three of these parts are given to the statue, making it a quarter smaller than those commonly named alike."