After his death, the grief of the emperor knew no bounds, causing the most extravagant respect to be paid to his memory. Cities were founded in his name, medals struck with his effigy, and statues erected to him in all parts of the empire. Following the example of
Alexander (who sought divine honours for his lover,
Hephaistion, when he died), Hadrian had Antinous proclaimed a god. Temples were built for his worship in Bithynia,
Mantineia in
Arcadia, and
Athens, festivals celebrated in his honour and
oracles delivered in his name. The city of
Antinopolis or Antinoe was founded on the ruins of Besa where he died (Dio Cassius lix.11; Spartianus,
Hadrian). One of Hadrian's attempts at extravagant remembrance failed, when the proposal to create a
constellation of Antinous being lifted to heaven by an eagle (the constellation
Aquila) failed of adoption.
After deification, Antinous was associated with and depicted as the
Ancient Egyptian god
Osiris, associated with the rebirth of the
Nile. Antinous was also depicted as the Roman
Bacchus, a god related to fertility, cutting vine leaves.
Worship, or at least acknowledgment, of the idealized Antinous was widespread, although mainly outside the city of Rome. As a result, Antinous is one of the best-preserved faces from the ancient world. Many busts, gems and coins represent Antinous as the ideal type of youthful beauty, often with the attributes of some special god. They include a colossal bust in the
Vatican (
here), a bust in the
Louvre (the
Antinous Mondragone), a
bas-relief from the
Villa Albani (
here), a statue in the
Capitoline museum (the so-called
Capitoline Antinous, now accepted to be a portrayal of
Hermes), another in
Berlin, another in the
Lateran and one in the
Fitzwilliam Museum; and many more may be seen in museums across Europe. There are also statues in many archaeological museums in Greece including the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, the archaeological museums of Patras, Chalkis and Delphi. Although these may well be idealised images, they demonstrate what all contemporary writers described as Antinous's extraordinary beauty. Although many of the sculptures are instantly recognizable, some offer significant variation in terms of the suppleness and sensuality of the pose and features versus the rigidity and typical masculinity. His representation in art was the subject of the
Henry Moore Institute's 2006 summer exhibition.
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