Description
Antinoüs or Antinoös (November 27, c.111-October before 30th, 130) was a member of the entourage of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, with whom he was rumored to have had a relationship. Antinous was deified after his death, although his exact status in the Roman pantheon was uncertain. Antinous was born to a Greek family in Bithynion-Claudiopolis, in the Roman province of Bithynia in what is now north-west Turkey. Nothing is known of how, when, or where he and Hadrian met. Given the manners of the period and the unanimous testimony of the ancient sources, the relationship has been generally believed to have been sexual. In October 130, according to Hadrian, cited by Dio Cassius, “Antinous was drowned in the Nilus”. (D.C. 69.11) It is not known for certain whether his death was the result of accident, suicide, murder, or (voluntary) religious sacrifice, but the last is best supported by the surviving evidence. At Antinous’s death the emperor decreed his deification, and the 2nd century Christian writer Tatian mentions a belief that his likeness was placed over the face of the Moon, though this may be exaggerated due to his anti-pagan polemical style.
