The Birth of the Cultual Imaginary of Antinous

Abstract

Antinous is a subject loved by the archae­ological literature, even recent, due to the role that the young man plays for Hadrian, but also for the continuous fascination that his beauty inspires. The series of portraits reflects a sequence of a more complex ide­ological nature, which can be read as a true elaboration of iconography, corresponding to the progressive construction of the cult of the young Bitinic. The article will analyze the informations provided by the historical sources on Hadrian, by the hieroglyphic texts of the Pincius’ obelisk in Rome and the poetic texts preserved, looking at the background of the organization of the city of Antinoupolis, through which part of the myth of death and the subsequent deifica­tion of the young Antinous is told.