Antinoos

Antinoos (or Antinous or Antinoo) was the love of Hadrian, Roman Emperor (117-138 BCE)  He had Antinoos' likeness sculpted and delivered all over the Empire where it was to inspire the masses. Antinoos died in a tragic drowning in the Nile very young and was deified by Hadrian. Generations later, his likeness still inspires a small subset of the masses :)

Antinoos & Hadrian's world coincided with the Roman tendency to classicize its artworks in an attempt to present itself as the archetype.  In expressing their personal vision of the emperor, the great artists of the age were united in their adaptation of classical models to the realities of their contemporary life. Antinous, was not only a beautiful youth from Bithynia but the beloved favourite of the Emperor. And after drowning in Egypt in 130, his image inspired artists to follow in the footsteps of the great Greek sculptors, Calamis, Phidias, and Praxiteles, reverting to the ancient figurative tradition in order to portray contemporary power in aesthetic, religious and philosophical terms. Perfect models were to be found in mythology, from which portraits of Antinous assumed the body and attitudes of heroes and deities, from the edge of India to the coast of Portugal.

We have links to Antinoos life, his likenesses around the world, the religious cult that is still practiced by a small group of folks and his place in Roman history.  If you have additional Antinoos information or links, please feel free to pass them on!