Canonical Works

The Sacred Texts are the central documents around which this website has been designed, and are the canonical works venerated by Celebrants of the Cult of Antinous. Although they were written at various times, they will be presented here, when available, in the order that is believed will provide the best possible reader experience. (Naturally, of course, Celebrants are welcome to approach the texts from any starting point.)

Translation and presentation of the Epistles of Antinous is an ongong process. Presently available are approximately half of the documents.

Background: The Epistles are believed with considerable certainty to have been written by the hand of the God Himself. They were all addressed to His childhood friend, Lysicles, and were inaugurated as a result of the God's anxiety at their separation following the earthquake that shook Bithynia — an event that would (...more)

Recent excavations at the ruins of Antinoopolis (on the shores of the Nile where the body of Antinous washed ashore) have yielded the fantastic discovery of an incredibly well-preserved bathhouse on the outskirts of the city. Buried for centures, the newly exposed and restored frescoes depict identifiable scenes from the Epistles of Antinous, and are being dated to the early 3rd century CE (about a hundred years after the death of Antinous, in what was probably the height of his cult and his city's vitality).

Aptly named The Bathhouse Frescoes, these remarkable pieces will be presented here as they become available. They will also be cross-referenced to the Epistles with which they correspond, so that the first-person account of their narrative can be better appreciated. (...more)

Translation and presentation of the The Gospel of Gryllus is an ongong process. Presently available is a short excerpt from the opening of the play.

The Gospel of Gryllus is a 1-Act of frightening intensity. It reveals to us the lustful and desperate mind of Gryllus in the immediate aftermath of Hadrian's departure (with Antinous in tow) from the Paedagogium on Caelian Hill.

In the tragic result of Gryllus' inconsolable loss, however, we find the beginnings of the quest of Decentius to discover the truth about Antinous. (...more)

The Gospel of Corda is a micro-play at once celebratory and melancholy. In what amounts to less than five minutes of performance, it layers Corda’s unrequited love with the happy yet hurting blessings that Antinous wished upon his newlywed friend, Anaxamenos. (...more)

The Oratory of Favorinus is presented here in its entirety (with the qualification that the text will likely undergo minor alterations as it works toward a staged performance). It depicts the events that supposedly took place on May 10, 128 — the evening before Hadrian was destined to be honoured with the title of Father of the Country.

The action is set in the house of Statianus, who welcomes his distinguished Roman guests. They have all been invited (presumably from a list vetted by Hadrian) to witness the rhetorical genius of the celebrated hermaphrodite, Favorinus. (...more)

The tragedy of the Gospel of Vitalis is that there isn't more of it. As Antinous himself implies in Epistle 064 - On Grief, the gods made a colossal mistake in taking Vitalis at so early an age -- just when he was beginning to show promise as an artist.

Thankfully, the pieces we do have shed some beautiful light on "the little details" of life in the close company of Antinous and his contemporaries. (...more)

The Isthmian Odes are so-called because they depict a private drinking party (i.e. a “symposium”) that took place during the Isthmian Games of the year 128 A.D. (the fourth year of the 226th Olympiad). They are the raunchy and irreverent product of four drunken wordsmiths who each, in his own way, is alternatively seducing, teasing, worshipping, or simply marvelling at the beauty of Antinous. (...more)

The Gospel of Alexander records the intimate conversation (and activities!) of Alexander and Antinous on the night of their shared experience. Following on Epistle 066 – A Playful Wager, Alexander and his wife, Tessera, come to the Imperial House in Athens to be the dinner guests of Antinous, while Hadrian is elsewhere occupied. According to the Epistle (and corroborated by the dialogue contained in this Gospel), it was Hadrian himself who chose Alexander as the playmate of Antinous, and their wager revolved around the expectation that Antinous would indeed have a good time with his guest, despite his assertions that he was happy to spend the night on his own. (...more)

Translation and presentation of The Gospel of Hadrian is an ongoing process. Presently available are two small excerpts from the epic piece, which is structured as a 5-act dramatic play.

Backround: The story appears to be set in the fading days of Hadrian's rule. Having called to his bedside Antoninus (the future Emperor) and Telesphorus (the Bishop of Rome), Hadrian has embarked on an ambitious project to appease the growing hostility between the Hellenes (i.e. Pagans) and Christians by attempting to analyze the essence of Godhood. And what better God to illustrate his points than Antinous - the one that he himself created? (...more)

Translation and presentation of the Psalms is an ongoing endeavour.

Their authorship is not known. (...more)

The Song of Lysicles is coming soon...