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Literary notes about Colossus (AI summary)

The term "colossus" in literature often conveys both a literal and symbolic sense of monumental grandeur. It is used to evoke awe through descriptions of physical giants or monumental statues, such as the famed Colossus of Rhodes ([1], [2], [3]), while simultaneously serving as a metaphor for towering influence or intellectual might, as when a character is depicted as a dominant force in debate or leadership ([4], [5]). In other instances, authors employ the word to portray not only massive, immovable structures but also the impressive stature of individuals—be they heroic, imposing, or even humorously exaggerated ([6], [7], [8]). This versatile term thus bridges the gap between mythic enormity and figurative power, enhancing the narrative by drawing on a rich tradition of imagery and allusion ([9], [10]).
  1. Grand, if you like. Take the Colossus of Rhodes, for instance, that's worth something.
    — from Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  2. The famous Colossus of Rhodes, which was one of the seven wonders of the world, was erected in honour of Helios.
    — from Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome by E. M. Berens
  3. The Colossus of Rhodes was a gigantic statue—over a hundred feet in height—of the Rhodian sun
    — from Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson
  4. His contemporaries called him a colossus, the literary Goliath, the Giant, the great Cham of literature, a tremendous companion.
    — from Boswell's Life of Johnson by James Boswell
  5. To them a United States Senator was a vast, vague colossus, an awe inspiring unreality.
    — from The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner
  6. The little ant, again, pronounced the gnat too wee; To such a speck, a vast colossus she.
    — from Fables of La Fontaine — a New Edition, with Notes by Jean de La Fontaine
  7. He desired I would stand like a colossus, with my legs as far asunder as I conveniently could.
    — from Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Regions of the World by Jonathan Swift
  8. Give a man a tolerably fair memory to start with, and piloting will develop it into a very colossus of capability.
    — from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain
  9. It is intellect, an atom which resists strength—a colossus.
    — from The History of a Crime by Victor Hugo
  10. He never would see again this Colossus who seemed to repel his weak embraces with the bellows of his respiration.
    — from Mare Nostrum (Our Sea): A Novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez

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