Antinous

Antinous as Aristaeus (2nd century)

Antinous was a beautiful young man from what is now NW Turkey who was deified by Emperor Hadrian after he drowned in the River Nile in 130 CE. He was aged around 20 at the time of his death, which some believed was an act of sacred self-sacrifice. Temples of Antinous were erected and his cult was popular, as evidenced by numerous sculptures, gems, and coins depicting him from the Roman period. A city in Egypt was founded in his honour shortly after his death, Antinoöpolis, where the citizens were considered Greek, though they were permitted to marry Egyptian women. Antinoöpolis was important enough to have Bishops assigned to it in the 4th century. The city survived until the 8th century and its ruins were grand enough to still be visible until the early 19th century.

It is unclear what we may regard as Antinous’ domain. As the probable lover of Hadrian he may be regarded as a God of youthful masculine beauty and sexual allure, if not male homosexuality, but homosexuality cannot have been his sole domain, as a 3rd or 4th century spell from Roman Egypt invokes Antinous and asks him to:

“... bind Ptolemais … the daughter of Horigenes, so that she should not be f–ked, buggered or should not give any pleasure to another man, except to me alone … I conjure you, Antinous spirit of the dead … bring me Ptolemaic … prevent her from eating, from drinking, until she comes to me … and do not allow her to accept the advances of any man other than me alone … Drag her by the hair, the guts, until she does not reject me … and I have her … subject to me for the entire extent of my life, loving me, desiring me, telling me what she thinks [cited in Beard, North and Price at 266-267].”

This spell was written, in Greek, on a lead sheet and placed in a vase with a female figurine pierced with needles. It is clearly an example of attempted magic, and so perhaps we may attribute chthonic magic to Antinous, if not sexual success, even within heterosexual unions. Note that Romans did not have a heterosexual / homosexual dichotomy as we tend to today, rather they thought of sexuality more in terms of dominance and submission. Women were expected to be sexually submissive, Roman men were expected to be sexually dominant, by law as well as custom. Hadrian likely took on the active role in sex, which means that if Antinous was his lover he was probably sexually submissive, at least in the minds of ordinary Romans – this might explain why Antinous was invoked in relation to the sexual desire of a woman.

Antinous’ chthonic aspect is highlighted by the fact that in ancient Rome there was a funerary club to Diana and Antinous. The purpose of funerary clubs was to ensure that members were accorded a good funeral, and they were particularly popular among ordinary people. It is clear they also had a social and religious aspect, for the constitution of the club of Diana and Antinous records that:

“... the club president, on religious holidays during his term of office, should clothe himself in white, and make offerings of incense and wine, and perform other such duties. And on the birthdays of Diana and Antinous he should provide, in the public bath building, oil for club members before they dine [Shelton at 98].”

Antinous is sometimes represented as another more well known deity, for example as Bacchus or Apollo, which suggests that he may have been regarded as a human manifestation of a God, in the same way that the Hindu Rama is said to be an avatar of Vishnu. In the ancient world there was no such thing as Pagan orthodoxy so pinning down the exact nature of how Antinous was perceived is likely impossible.

Note: this post is based on a page that originally appeared on my other website, which is now defunct.

Sources

Encyclopedia Britannica (I have an online subscription)

Beard, North and Price, Religions of Rome: Volume 2: A Sourcebook (Cambridge University Press)

Shelton, As the Romans Did (Oxford University Press) at 98

Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at neo polytheist