Antinous

Antinous (also Antinoüs or Antinoös; Ancient Greek: Ἀντίνοος; 27 November, c. 111 – before 30 October 130) was a Bithynian Greek youth and a favourite, or lover, of the Roman emperor Hadrian. He was deified after his death, being worshiped in both the Greek East and Latin West, sometimes as a god (theos) and sometimes merely as a hero (heros).

Little is known of Antinous' life, although it is known that he was born in Claudiopolis (nowadays Bolu, Turkey), in the Roman province of Bithynia. He likely was introduced to Hadrian in 123, before being taken to Italy for a higher education. He had become the favourite of Hadrian by 128, when he was taken on a tour of the Empire as part of Hadrian's personal retinue. Antinous accompanied Hadrian during his attendance of the annual Eleusinian Mysteries in Athens, and was with him when he killed the Marousian lion in Libya. In October 130, as they were part of a flotilla going along the Nile, Antinous died amid mysterious circumstances. Various suggestions have been put forward for how he died, ranging from an accidental drowning to an intentional human sacrifice.

Antinous (disambiguation)

Antinous (111–130 CE) was the favorite and lover of Roman Emperor Hadrian.

Antinous can also refer to:

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Antinous (constellation)

Antinous is an obsolete constellation no longer in use by astronomers, having been merged into Aquila, which it bordered to the North.

The constellation was created by the emperor Hadrian in 132. According to legend, Hadrian was told by an oracle that only the death of his most beloved person would save him from a great danger. Sure enough, Antinous, a beautiful youth loved by Hadrian, died while saving the Emperor from drowning in the Nile. For his memory Hadrian identified an asterism in the sky with Antinous.

Tycho Brahe was originally given credit for inventing Antinous, but current finds include a celestial globe by the cartographer Caspar Vopel from 1536 that contains Antinous, so Brahe simply measured up the sky according to contemporary traditions and decided to give Antinous a separate table in his star catalogue.

In the following modern times, Antinous has been variously considered an asterism within Aquila or as a separate constellation, until the International Astronomical Union discarded it when formalizing the constellations in 1930.