Antinous
(Ἀντίνοος), a son of Eupeithes of Ithaca, and one of the suitors of Penelope, who during the absence of Odysseus even attempted to make himself master of the kingdom and threatened the life of Telemachus. (Hom. Od. 22.48, &c., 4.630, &c., 16.371.) When Odysseus after his return appeared in the disguise of a beggar, Antinous insulted him and threw a foot-stool at him. (Od. 18.42, &c.) On this account he was the first of the suitors who fell by the hands of Odysseus. (22.8, &c.) [L.S]
(Ἀντίνους), a chief among the Molossians in Epeirus, who became involved, against his own will, in the war of Perseus, king of Macedonia, against the Romans. His family and that of another chief, Cephalus, were connected with the royal house of Macedonia by friendship, and although he was convinced that the war against Rome would be ruinous to Macedonia and therefore had no intention of joining Perseus, yet Charops, a young Epeirot, who had been educated at Rome and wished to insinuate himself into the favour of the Romans, calumniated Antinous and Cephalus as if they entertained a secret hostility towards Rome. Antinous and his friends at first treated the machinations of Charops with contempt, but when they perceived that some of their friends were arrested and conveyed to Rome, Antinous and Cephalus were compelled, for the sake of their own safety, openly, though unwillingly, to join the Macedonian party, and the Molossians followed their example. After the outbreak of the war Antinous fell fighting, B. C. 168. Polybius does not state clearly whether Antinous fell in battle, or whether he put an end to his own life in despair. (Plb. 27.13, 30.7.) [L.S]
a youth, probably of low origin, born at Bithynium or Claudiopolis in Bithynia. On account of his extraordinary beauty he was taken by the emperor Hadrian to be his page, and soon became the object of his extravagant affection. Hadrian took him with him on all his journeys. It was in the course of one of these that he was drowned in the Nile. It is uncertain whether his death was accidental, or whether he threw himself into the river, either from disgust at the life he led. or from a superstitious belief that by so doing he should avert some calamity from the emperor. Dio Cassius favours the latter supposition. The grief of the emperor knew no bounds. He strove to perpetuate the memory of his favourite by monuments of all kinds. He rebuilt the city of Besa in the Thebais, near which Antinous was drowned, and gave it the name of Antinoopolis. He enrolled Antinous amongst the gods, caused temples to be erected to him in Egypt and Greece (at Mantineia), and statues of him to be set up in almost every part of the world. In one of the sanctuaries dedicated to him oracles were delivered in his name. Games were also celebrated in his honour. (Dict. of Ant. s. v. Ἀντινόεια.) A star between the eagle and the zodiac, which the courtiers of the emperor pretended had then first made its appearance, and was the soul of Antinous, received his name, which it still bears. A large number of works of art of all kinds were executed in his honour, and many of them are still extant. They have been diffusely described and classified by Konrad Levezow in his treatise Ueber den Antinous dargestellt in den Kunstdenkmälern des Alterthums. The death of Antinous, which took place probably in A. D. 122, seems to have formed an era in the history of ancient art. (D. C. 69.11; Spartian. Hadrian. 14; Paus. 8.9.4.) [C.P.M]
There were various medals struck in honour of Antinous in the Greek cities, but none at Rome or in any of the Roman colonies. In the one annexed, which was struck at Bithynium, the birthplace of Hadrian, the inscription is Η ΠΑΤΡΙΣ ΑΝΤΙΝΟΟΝ ΘΕΟΝ, that is, " His native country (reverences) the god Antinous." The inscription on the reverse is nearly effaced on the medal from which the drawing was made : it was originally ΑΔΡΙΑΝΩΝ ΒΙΘΥΝΙΕΩΝ. On it Mercury is represented with a bull by his side, which probably has reference to Apis. (Eckhel, vi. p. 528, &c.)
(1) Son of Eupithes of Ithaca, and one of the suitors of Penelopé, was slain by Odysseus.
(2) A youth of extraordinary beauty, born at Claudiopolis in Bithynia, was the favourite of the emperor Hadrian, and his companion in all his journeys (Pausan. viii. 9, 7). He was drowned in the Nile, A.D. 122. The grief of the emperor knew no bounds. He enrolled Antinoüs among the gods, caused a temple to be erected to him at Mantinea, and founded the city of Antinoöpolis in honour of him. Beautiful statues and busts of him still exist.
- Paus. 8.9.7
- favourite of Hadrian: Paus. 8.9.7
- worshipped at Mantinea and other places: Paus. 8.9.7ff.
- Egyptian city named after him: Paus. 8.9.7
- represented as Dionysus: Paus. 8.9.8
- games in his honour: Paus. 8.9.8, Paus. 8.10.1
- Apollod. E.7.29
- said by some to have seduced Penelope: Apollod. E.7.37