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 (present day Bolu, Turkey), in the Roman province of Bithynia. He was probably 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.
