The Life of Antinous of Bithynia
Antinous was born in a town called Claudiopolis, also known as Bithynion, in the northwest corner of the country that we now call Turkey, in the year 111 A.D. He was very likely not from a wealthy family, and is even said to have been a slave...Antinous came from nothing, and from nowhere, but by the end of his short life, he was a Prince, known all over the Empire. His name has overcome the trials of history because of the mysterious love that occured between this strange, exotic boy, and the ruler of the Roman world at its height. The details of Antinous's life are mostly unknown. The exact year of his birth is unknown but the date is recorded as November 27th.
His image however is certain, based on so many surviving sculptures. He was extraordinarily beautiful, a living angel, a visible manifestation of divine perfection. He has been compared to Ganymede, Adonis, or one of many beautiful boys whose beauty attracted the attention of the Gods. So it was that a living God found Antinous and swept him up to the heavens.
The Emperor Hadrian passed through Bithynia in the year 123 A.D. and it is believed that on this trip he encountered Antinous for the first time and fell completely in love. Antinous was admitted into the Imperial court and either he was sent to Rome to be educated at the finest schools for boys, where he learned Latin, poetry, history and the arts, or he remained close to Hadrian and was educated in private. He also began to train his body in the gymnasium, and over time sculpted it, under the guidance of Hadrian's trainers, into what would become the finest example of Classical male beauty.
Antinous was an excellent hunter, which was Hadrian's favorite pasttime...they are known to have spent much of their free time hunting wild animals, including a man-eating lion in the Libyan desert. Antinous surely felt deep affection for Hadrian's hunting hounds, the finest dogs in the world at that time and in many ways Antinous can be compared to one of them, because of his loyalty and devotion, his beauty and youth, his athletic strength, and the expression in his eyes...all of which conveys deep canine familiarity. And Antinous spent approximately seven years with Hadrian which is about the life-span of a strong hunting dog.
In his short life, Antinous affected the course of human history in that he became the first historical person to be declared a god because of his homosexuality, for whom a religion was declared and implimented, which lasted for several hundred years. The effect of his religion prompted Christianity to react against homosexuality in ways that continue to affect us to this day. Antinous was the last god of the ancient Roman religion...though the cult of the emperors continued for several generations, the divinized Emperors were never as widely recieved as the Religion of Antinous.
The beauty of Antinous is timeless. He is as perfect to our modern eyes as he was 1900 years ago. He has captivated lovers of male beauty ever since. Antinous was the first and the longest lasting Male supermodel.
The Temple of Antinous