Antinous, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetAntinous
Greek favourite of the Roman emperor Hadrian
Date of Birth: 27-Nov-0111
Place of Birth: Bolu, Turkey
Date of Death: 01-Jan-0001
Profession: politician
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius 
About Antinous
- Antinous (also AntinoĂ¼s or Antinoös; Ancient Greek: ??t?????; 27 November, c.
- 111 – before 30 October 130) was a Bithynian Greek youth and a favourite or beloved of the Roman emperor Hadrian.
- He was deified after his death, being worshipped in both the Greek East and Latin West, sometimes as a god (theos) and sometimes merely as a hero (heros).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.
- He was probably introduced to Hadrian in 123, before being taken to Italy for a higher education.
- He had become the favourite of Hadrian by 128, when he was taken on a tour of the Empire as part of Hadrian's personal retinue.
- 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.
- In October 130, as they were part of a flotilla going along the Nile, Antinous died amid mysterious circumstances.
- Various suggestions have been put forward for how he died, ranging from an accidental drowning to an intentional human sacrifice or suicide. Following his death, Hadrian deified Antinous and founded an organised cult devoted to his worship that spread throughout the Empire.
- Hadrian founded the city of Antinopolis close to Antinous's place of death, which became a cultic centre for the worship of Osiris-Antinous.
- Hadrian also founded games in commemoration of Antinous to take place in both Antinopolis and Athens, with Antinous becoming a symbol of Hadrian's dreams of pan-Hellenism.
- 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 honor long after Hadrian's death.Antinous became associated with homosexuality in Western culture, appearing in the work of Oscar Wilde and Fernando Pessoa.
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