Antinous Listens To Your Prayers: Prudentius, Contra Symmachum 1.271-277

Name: Prudentius Date:  4th century CE Region:  Tarraconensis [modern Spain] Citation:  Against Symmachus 1.271-277

 In this poem, the Christian author Prudentius refers to Antinous as a "deliciae," which is usually used to refer to slaves / human trafficking victims. His disdain for same sex relationships is evident, as he equates the relationship as negating Antinous' masculinity. 

What can I say about Antinous,

The man turned into a constellation,

The boyfriend of our divine Emperor [Hadrian]

The man denied a man’s role

       as he lies in the emperor’s arms

The Divine Hadrian’s Ganymede,

Who doesn’t pour drinks for the gods

but instead reclines on the couch with his Jupiter

drinking the sacred drink of ambrosia & nectar

and listens to prayers offered to his imperial husband?

quid loquar Antinoum caelesti in sede locatum,

illum delicias nunc divi principis, illum

purpureo in gremio spoliatum sorte virili,

Hadrianique dei Ganymedem, non cyathos dis

porgere sed medio recubantem cum Iove fulcro

nectaris ambrosii sacrum potare Lyaeum,

dumque suo in templis vota exaudire marito?

 

Prudentius [Aurelius Prudentius Clemens; 348 – 413 CE, modern Spain] was a Christian author from Roman Hispania who had great influence in the court of Emperor Theodosius I. Most of his works deal with using his Christian beliefs to counter Roman polytheism and mythology. 

Remembered in the Stars: Antinous, Caelum Astronomico-poeticum, 179-180

ANTINOUS:

Hadrian’s Boyfriend / Hadrian’s Lover / Bythinian Lad / New Egyptian God / (Others think it’s Ganymede, the Trojan Lad, The Trojan, The Trojan, The Phrygian, Jupiter’s Lover (according to Catullus), The Lover, The Eagle’s Boyfriend, Jupiter’s Cupbearer, The Cupbearer.

This constellation passes through the south in the middle of the night, during the middle of July. It is comprised of seven stars in a cluster, as we saw in the previous sign [Aquila].

Antinous was an extremely beautiful youth born in Claudiopolis, Bithynia. After he drowned in the Nile, his lover, the Emperor Hadrian, ordered him to be worshipped by the Egyptians, and had a constellation named after him. The constellation is near the Milky Way under the constellation Aquila, between the Zodiac signs and the Equator (which is also part of the constellation Ara). It was taken away from the Egyptian Pharoah Cleopatra by Augustus, and then rededicated by Hadrian as a new god for the Egyptians, (of course—he named it in honor of Antinous).

In Goltzius’ Thesaurus of Antiquities, there was an ancient inscription found in the Campus Martius in Rome, in a shrine to Isis, which reads: “Dedicated to Antinoos, sharing the same throne as the Egyptian Gods.”  Hadrian also named a town after Antinous in Egypt, which is also called Hadrianopolis. He not only dedicated statues for Antinous there, but he also established temples and priests for him as well. He also created coins in his honor, or rather, had them minted. One of these is a bronze coin in Bavaria. On one side is the head of Antinous, with the inscription “Hostilius Marcellus, the Priest of Antinous.” On the other side is Mercury with Pegasus, with the inscription “dedicated to the Achaeans.”

--Phillippi Caesi a Zesen. Caelum Astronomico-poeticum, sive Mythologicum Stellarum Fixarum, 1662.p. 179-180

ANTINOUS:

Puer Adrianeus, Adriani Amasius, Puer Bithynicus, Novus Aegypti Deus; aliis Ganymedes, Puer Troius, Troianus, Iliacus, Phrygius, Catullo Iovis Cinaedus, catamitus, Puer Aquilae, Iovis Pincerna, sive Pocillator. Meridianum media nocte transit medio Iulii: et septem in globo nosro continet stellas, de quibus in praecedenti egimus Signo.

[Antinous admirandae pulchritudinis puer Claudiopoli Bithyniae natus, postquam Nilo submersus erat, Ariani Caesaris iussu, cuius amasius fuit, ab Aegyptiis cultus, ac in coelum locatus, prope Viam lacteam, sub Aquila, inter Zodiacum, et Aequatorem, Arae quasi insistitit. Devicta enim ab Augusto Cleopatra Aegypti regina,ac Adriano postea imperium consecuto, novum hic Aegyptiis Duem, nempe hunc Antinoum dedit. Unde apud Goltzium in Thesauro rei antiquariae, vetus inscriptio Romae reperta in Campo Martio ad Isidis fanum, haec habet: ANTINOΩI SYNΘΡONΩI TΩN EN AIGYPTΩI ΘEΩN, hoc est, Antinoo eundem cum Diis Aegyptiis thronum occupanti. Quin et idem Adrianus in eiusdem Antinoi honorem urbem Antinoiam, quae et Adrianopolis dicta, in Aegypto condidit: imo non solum statuas erexit, templa & sacerdotes constituit; sed etiam numismata procudit, aut procudi fecit. Quod praeter alios, testatur nummus Bayeri aeneus, in cuius altera facie Caput Antinoi expressum, cum hac inscriptione: OCTILIOS MAΡKELLOS O IEΡEΥS TOΥ ANTINOOΥ, hoc est, Hostilius Marcellus Sacerdos Antinoi: in altera conspicitur Mercurius cum Pegaso, circumque haec legitur epigraphe: TOIC AΧAIOC ANEΘEKE , hoc est, Achaeis consecravit.

M/M: Kisses Mixed With Wine, Martial 11.26

 

Name: Martial Date: c. 40 – 100 CE Region: Bilbilis, Hispania [modern Spain] Citation: Epigrams 11.26

NOTE: Although the Romans did not find the relationship between Zeus and Ganymede problematic, it is important to not romanticize this relationship in the modern world, as the massive power imbalance negates the consent of the relationship in our views. 

Telesphorus, darling, my sweet respite from stress,

My love, I’ve never felt this way before I’d embraced you,

Give me kisses that taste like wine,

Give me wineglasses that your lips have first kissed.

If you also grant me your love,

I’d say I’m better than Jupiter with his Ganymede.

O mihi grata quies, o blanda, Telesphore, cura,
    qualis in amplexu non fuit ante meo,
basia da nobis vetulo, puer, uda Falerno,
    pocula da labris facta minora tuis.
Addideris super haec Veneris si gaudia vera,
    esse negem melius cum Ganymede Jovi.

 

 

Martial [Marcus Valerius Martialis; 38 BCE – 102 CE, modern Spain] Originally from Bilbilis, Hispania, the poet Martial moved to Rome in the 60s CE to advance his career. His two extant works include de Spectaculis, a collection of poems written to commemorate the opening of the Colosseum, and a fifteen volume collection of epigrams. These poems provide valuable insight into the private lives of Romans from all of the city’s social classes.

I Like Both: Greek Anthology, 5.64

Jupiter approached the god-like Ganymede as an eagle;

And approached the blonde-haired mother of Helen [Leda] as a swan.

You cannot compare them. Of both of these options,

Some like the one, and others like the opposite;

But I like both.

Aquila Juppiter venit ad dium Ganymedem

cygnus ad flavam matrem Helenae

Sic utrumque non est discernibile: horum autem duorum

aliis aliud videtur praeferendum, mihi ambo.

Αιετος ο Ζεύς ήλθεν επ αντίθεον Γανυμήδην

κύκνος επί ξανθην μητέρα της Ελένης

Ούτως αμφότερ εστίν ασύγκριτα των δύο δ αυτών

άλλοις άλλο δοκεί κρείσσον εμοί τα δύο

--Anonymous, Greek Anthology v.64; Translated into Latin by Frederick Duebner

 The Greek Anthology is a modern collection of Greek lyric poetry compiled from various sources over the course of Greco-Roman literature. The current collection was created from two major sources, one from the 10^th century CE and one from the 14^th century CE. The anthology contains authors spanning the entirety of Greek literature, from archaic poets to Byzantine Christian poets. 

Dangerous Beauty: The Abduction of Ganymede, Vat. Myth. 2.184

The Abduction of Ganymede

Name:  Vatican Mythographers Date:   10th century CE Region:   Unknown Citation:   Vat. Myth.  2.184

Abduction myths serve two purposes. For modern readers, they serve as a cautionary tale that all young persons are vulnerable to exploitation. For ancient readers, however, these beautiful youths’ abductions were euphemistic stories to help grieving parents cope with the loss of a child who died before reaching expected social milestones (e.g., entering adulthood or getting married).

Ganymede, the son of Priam's son Troilius, was the most beautiful youth and the most talented hunter among the Trojans. When he was training on Mount Ida, he was snatched up by Jupiter's thunderbird, [the eagle that once bore the god's thunderbolt].   The youth was taken up into heaven and assigned to be the Cupbearer of the Gods, a position that had previously been filled by Hebe, the daughter of Jupiter's son Minos.  

The Abduction of Ganymede

Ganymedes filius Troili filii Priami cum prima forma ceteris Troianis preferretur et assiduis venationibus in Idae silva exerceretur, ab armigero Jovis, scilicet aquila quae quondam illi fulmina offerebat, in caelum raptus est et factus est pincerna deorum, quod officium prius occupaverat Hebe filia Minois filii Jovis.

Vatican Mythographers [10th century CE?] Little is known about the author or origin of the collection of myths known as the Vatican Mythographers, but the work’s first editor Angelo Mai found the collection on a manuscript dating back to the 10th century CE. This volume is a collection of three different mythographers who have assembled various Greco-Roman myths; although many of these myths are basic summaries in Latin, some of them are either analyzed as allegories or compared to Christian thought.