She did not want you to think her less intelligent
than Alexander. In his case, when the masterbuilder undertook to remodel the whole of Athos
and shape it into his likeness, so that the entire
mountain would become the image of the king,
holding a city in either hand, Alexander would not
agree to the monstrous proposal. Thinking the
project over-bold for him, he stopped the man from
modelling colossi on a scale that transcended convincingness, bidding him to let Athos alone and not


 

to diminish so great a mountain to similarity with a
tiny body. She praised Alexander for his greatness
of soul, and observed that thereby he had erected a
monument greater than Athos itself in the minds of
those who should think of him ever and anon in
time to come: for it took no little determination
to contemn so marvellous an honour. The same story is in How to Write History, c. 12, where also the name of the architect is not mentioned. Plutarch says it was Stasicrates (Alea. 72; Moral. 335). In Strabo 14, p. 641, Cheirocrates seems to underlie the various readings. Vitruvius (ii, praef.) tells the tale quite differently and makes Dinocrates the hero of it.