DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14144#0696
66o
PORTRAIT SCULPTURE.
like Hadrian. During an excursion on the Nile, in the year of Grace
130 or 132, Antinous was drowned—-by accident, as the Emperor re-
ported in his letter to the Senate, but in all probability by an act of
self-devotion.1 The Magi, glad, no doubt, to have an opportunity of
making themselves important in the eyes of their master, had predicted
danger to Hadrian's life, and demanded a substitute, as the only
means of prolonging it. Such a prediction would take great hold on
Hadrian's superstitious mind,3 and the more real and near the peril
seemed to his fears the greater in his eyes was the merit of Antinous,
who voluntarily, as was said, appeased the dark powers of fate by the
sacrifice of his young life and brilliant prospects. The gratitude and
regret of the Emperor were unbounded, and no doubt sincere. He
summoned the whole world to sympathise with his grief, and to
pay divine honours to the glorious martyr of devoted loyalty. The
town of Besa, in the Thebais, near which Antinous was drowned, re-
ceived the name of Antinoopolis, and was rebuilt in the Grecian style.
Temples were erected for his worship both in Egypt and Greece ;
oracles were delivered in his name ; games instituted in his honour ;
and countless statues of him set up in every part of the Empire. His
departed soul appeared in the shape of a new star (between Aquila
and the Zodiac), which still bears his name;. Pausanias, in speaking
of him, says, ' I never saw Antinous alive, but I have seen statues and
pictures of him.....There is a house in the Gymnasium of the
Mantineans which contains statues of Antinous .... and many pic-
tures of him, mostly in the form of Dionysus.' But he was also repre-
sented under the form of Pythius Apollo, Hermes, Heracles, Aristtus,
Ganymede, and Agathod.emon. Many of these have been preserved,
and Levczow'1 treats of no less than ten statues and eighteen busts, most
of which were discovered in the ruins of Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli. Of
the statues the most noteworthy arc : the colossal figure of Antinous-
Bacchus in the Vatican Museum, and the Antinous Hermes (fig. 266)
1 Dio Cassias, lxix. 11 : fir' oiv ttl rim
Nt~i\ov i/iwtowv as 'ASpiavir ypaiptt (to the
Scn.-ite, c. 2, or in his life, Spnrtian. c. 16)
rfrt jcai ttpovpyqttlst is 7/ a\i;0tia *xft-
Conf. Sparli.m. Hadrian, 14, and Aurcl.
Vict. 14, and Tcrtullian (,lc Car. Mil. 13),
who calls him 'misHIum Archcmoruiii.'
• Dio Cassius, Ibid, rd t» yap &\Ka WtpUfh
ytWarot ' Abpiavbs wfrntp tiiror c'-ytVf to Ka\ Liavri-
reiais Kal JMtyywftUUt Tt irai'ToSaTraTs ^xpi)Tn.
1 K. I.evezow, liber it. Antinous, &c,
Berlin, 180S.
PORTRAIT SCULPTURE.
like Hadrian. During an excursion on the Nile, in the year of Grace
130 or 132, Antinous was drowned—-by accident, as the Emperor re-
ported in his letter to the Senate, but in all probability by an act of
self-devotion.1 The Magi, glad, no doubt, to have an opportunity of
making themselves important in the eyes of their master, had predicted
danger to Hadrian's life, and demanded a substitute, as the only
means of prolonging it. Such a prediction would take great hold on
Hadrian's superstitious mind,3 and the more real and near the peril
seemed to his fears the greater in his eyes was the merit of Antinous,
who voluntarily, as was said, appeased the dark powers of fate by the
sacrifice of his young life and brilliant prospects. The gratitude and
regret of the Emperor were unbounded, and no doubt sincere. He
summoned the whole world to sympathise with his grief, and to
pay divine honours to the glorious martyr of devoted loyalty. The
town of Besa, in the Thebais, near which Antinous was drowned, re-
ceived the name of Antinoopolis, and was rebuilt in the Grecian style.
Temples were erected for his worship both in Egypt and Greece ;
oracles were delivered in his name ; games instituted in his honour ;
and countless statues of him set up in every part of the Empire. His
departed soul appeared in the shape of a new star (between Aquila
and the Zodiac), which still bears his name;. Pausanias, in speaking
of him, says, ' I never saw Antinous alive, but I have seen statues and
pictures of him.....There is a house in the Gymnasium of the
Mantineans which contains statues of Antinous .... and many pic-
tures of him, mostly in the form of Dionysus.' But he was also repre-
sented under the form of Pythius Apollo, Hermes, Heracles, Aristtus,
Ganymede, and Agathod.emon. Many of these have been preserved,
and Levczow'1 treats of no less than ten statues and eighteen busts, most
of which were discovered in the ruins of Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli. Of
the statues the most noteworthy arc : the colossal figure of Antinous-
Bacchus in the Vatican Museum, and the Antinous Hermes (fig. 266)
1 Dio Cassias, lxix. 11 : fir' oiv ttl rim
Nt~i\ov i/iwtowv as 'ASpiavir ypaiptt (to the
Scn.-ite, c. 2, or in his life, Spnrtian. c. 16)
rfrt jcai ttpovpyqttlst is 7/ a\i;0tia *xft-
Conf. Sparli.m. Hadrian, 14, and Aurcl.
Vict. 14, and Tcrtullian (,lc Car. Mil. 13),
who calls him 'misHIum Archcmoruiii.'
• Dio Cassius, Ibid, rd t» yap &\Ka WtpUfh
ytWarot ' Abpiavbs wfrntp tiiror c'-ytVf to Ka\ Liavri-
reiais Kal JMtyywftUUt Tt irai'ToSaTraTs ^xpi)Tn.
1 K. I.evezow, liber it. Antinous, &c,
Berlin, 180S.