100 Heroes: Antinous
The gay man who was deified by a Roman Emperor.
Antinous was a Greek youth from Bithynia and one of the favoured lovers of the Roman emperor Hadrian.
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 as both a god and a hero.
Little is known about the life of Antinous. What seems to have been established is that he was born in Claudiopolis – present day Bolu, Turkey – in the Roman province of Bithynia et Pontus. He was probably introduced to Hadrian in the year 123, before being taken to Rome to be part of Hadrian's entourage.
Antinous had become the favourite of Hadrian by the year 128 - he was taken on a tour of the Roman Empire as part of Hadrian’s personal retinue.
It's been established that Antinous was with Hadrian during a number of key events, such as the annual Eleusinian Mysteries in Athens, and was also with him when Hadrian killed the Marousian lion in Libya - an event highly publicised by the Emperor.
In October in the year 130, Antinous died in mysterious circumstances. The death occurred as Hadrian and his inner-circle were part of a flotilla sailing along the River Nile.
Explanations for the death of Antinous range from an accidental drowning to suicide or an intentional human sacrifice.
Following the death of Antinous, Hadrian deified him and founded an organised cult devoted to his worship - a cult that spread throughout the Roman Empire and continued beyond the reign of Hadrian.
Hadrian founded the city of Antinoöpolis close to the place where Antinous died. Antinoöpolis became a key centre for the worship of Antinous as a god-like deity.
In more recent times, the story of Antinous and his position as the favoured lover of the Roman Emporer has been widely referenced as an example for gay men. Antinous appears in the work of writers such as Oscar Wilde and Fernando Pessoa. Even where the story of Antinous was not explicitly discussed, his name became a coded signal for men who had sex with men.
