Antinous (also Antinoüs or Antinoös; Ancient Greek: Ἀντίνοος; 27
November, c. 111 – before 30 October 130) was a Bithynian youth
and a favourite of the Roman emperor Hadrian. He was deified
after his death, although his exact status in the Roman pantheon
was uncertain. Thorsten Opper in Hadrian: Empire and Conflict
notes: "Hardly anything is known of Antinous' life, and the fact
that our sources get more detailed the later they are does not
inspire confidence." At an irreducible minimum he was born to a
Greek family in Bithynion-Claudiopolis, in the Roman province of
Bithynia in what is now north-west Turkey, and joined the
entourage of the emperor Hadrian at a young age, although
nothing certain is known of how, when, or where he and Hadrian
met. He is frequently described and depicted as a beautiful boy
and youth. The relationship is believed to have been sexual.
Antinous drowned in the Nile in October 130. The death was
presented as an accident, "but it was believed at the time that
Antinous had been sacri