Deinocrates

A monumental sculpture ascribed to Deinocrates, in which an image of Alexander the Great was to be carved out of Mount Athos .

Deinocrates (Δεινοκράτης; Latin : Dinocrates ; in probably corrupt sources also "Deinochares") was a Greek architect at the time of Alexander the Great . It remains uncertain whether the architect “Cheirokrates” handed down by Strabo and others is to be equated with Deinocrates.

life and work

Deinocrates probably came from Rhodes . He was involved in a responsible position in the city of Alexandria in Egypt. Other activities for Alexander are only uncertainly documented, such as the erection of the pyre for Hephaistion and the reconstruction of the temple of Artemis in Ephesus, which was burned down by Herostratus . Deinocrates is said to have presented to Alexander the plan to transform Mount Athos into a human figure, in the left hand with a city, in the right with a large bowl in which the water of all the rivers of the mountain should collect and then flow towards the sea. The plan did not come to fruition.

Deinocrates is said to have later started to vault the temple of Arsinoë I , the wife of Ptolemy II , with a magnetic stone so that a visitor could see her image made of iron float in the air. Allegedly, however, his death prevented the execution of this work.

Literary figure

An important figure of the same name appears in Arno Schmidt's story Enthymesis .

literature

Ernst Fabricius : Deinokrates 6. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen antiquity science (RE). Volume IV, 2, Stuttgart 1901, Col. 2392 f.
Rainer Vollkommer : Deinokrates (II). In: Rainer Vollkommer (Hrsg.): Künstlerlexikon der Antike . Volume 1: A-K. Saur, Munich / Leipzig 2001, ISBN 3-598-11413-3 , p. 162.

Remarks

↑ Strabon, Geographika 14, 1, 22 f. gives as the name of Cheinocrates what could be corrupt, cf. Vitruvius 2 Introduction, where Deinocrates is mentioned as the builder of Alexander the Great. Gaius Julius Solinus 40, 5 finally names Deinocrates directly as the architect of the younger Artemision. A decision is not possible.

personal data
SURNAME	Deinocrates
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Dinocrates
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Greek architect at the time of Alexander the Great
DATE OF BIRTH	4th century BC Chr.
PLACE OF BIRTH	unsure: Rhodes
DATE OF DEATH	4th century BC BC or 3rd century BC Chr.

[1] Strabon, Geographika 14, 1, 22 f. gives as the name of Cheinocrates what could be corrupt, cf. Vitruvius 2 Introduction, where Deinocrates is mentioned as the builder of Alexander the Great. Gaius Julius Solinus 40, 5 finally names Deinocrates directly as the architect of the younger Artemision. A decision is not possible.