There are various potential origins for the name "Antinous" it is possible that he was named after the character of Antinous, who is one of Penelope's suitors in Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey. Given the location of his birth and his physical appearance, it is likely that part of his ancestry was not Greek. Early sources record that his birthday was in November, and although the exact date is not known, Royston Lambert, one of Antinous's biographers, asserted that it was probably on 27 November. The year of Antinous's birth is not recorded, although it is estimated that it was probably between 110 and 112 CE.
Īntinous became a symbol of male homosexuality in Western culture, appearing in the work of Oscar Wilde, Fernando Pessoa and Marguerite Yourcenar.īiography Birth and childhood
The worship of Antinous proved to be one of the most enduring and popular of cults of deified humans in the Roman empire, and events continued to be founded in his honour long after Hadrian's death. Hadrian also founded games in commemoration of Antinous to take place in both Antinoöpolis and Athens, with Antinous becoming a symbol of Hadrian's dreams of pan-Hellenism. Hadrian founded the city of Antinoöpolis close to Antinous's place of death, which became a cultic centre for the worship of Osiris-Antinous. Various suggestions have been put forward for how he died, ranging from an accidental drowning to an intentional human sacrifice or suicide.įollowing his death, Hadrian deified Antinous and founded an organised cult devoted to his worship that spread throughout the Empire. In October 130, as they were part of a flotilla going along the Nile, Antinous died amid mysterious circumstances. Antinous accompanied Hadrian during his attendance of the annual Eleusinian Mysteries in Athens, and was with him when he killed the Marousian lion in Libya, an event highly publicised by the Emperor. He had become the favourite of Hadrian by 128, when he was taken on a tour of the Roman Empire as part of Hadrian's personal retinue. He was probably introduced to Hadrian in 123, before being taken to Italy for a higher education. Little is known of Antinous's life, although it is known that he was born in Claudiopolis (present day Bolu, Turkey), in the Roman province of Bithynia et Pontus. Following his premature death before his twentieth birthday, Antinous was deified on Hadrian's orders, being worshipped in both the Greek East and Latin West, sometimes as a god ( θεός, theós) and sometimes merely as a hero ( ἥρως, hḗrōs). 130) was a Greek youth from Bithynia and a favourite and lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian. Antinous, also called Antinoös, ( / æ n ˈ t ɪ n oʊ ʌ s/ Greek: Ἀντίνοος c.
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