Elegy On Antinous

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I ponder the fate of a Bithynian lad,
Antinous by name, a beautiful boy
Who caught the eye of a Roman Emperor--
Hadrian, a temperate ruler, sober, modest,
Philhellenic in his tastes; a lonely man
Who saw perhaps in this exquisite youth
The youthful joy he had never known...
They traveled the Empire together,
Hadrian delighting in the wonder he saw
In the eyes of his young companion
To whom the Emperor showed the world;
All saw that Antinous was Hadrian's favourite
--O, venomous jealousy of an Imperial court!
Is that what happened in Egypt
When 19-year old Antinous drowned in the Nile?
Some said he sacrificed himself
In imitation of the cult of Osiris,
Or simple accident...I wonder!
Are there accidents in an Emperor's entourage?
Poor old Hadrian wept, heedless of his courtiers' contempt:
"An Emperor should not show such unmanly grief
For a mere Bithynian pretty-boy!"
Cruel servants! Cannot Hadrian be human, too?
What clearer measure of love than this,
That the sad Emperor declared his lost youth a god,
Built shrines and temples to a boy
Who had harmed no one, conquered no hapless province,
Whose only accomplishment in history
Was that he made a lonely Emperor happy.  

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 Bust of Antinous with Greek inscription, (AD 130–138), discovered in Balanea, Syria in 1879.
 
******************************************************
 
Consumed with jealousy at the elegiac abilities of Chaos, I had this to say about Antinous:
 

How Sad! that this charmer,

him-

Did enthrall but could not swim.

Hot boys can make a Caesar quiver

But not at the bottom of a river.

So, flaunt it, sonny, ass and thigh

But Goddamn It, keep it dry!

Image

I gotta think of everything.

 

Antinous by Mintonia

 
I don't even know what dactylic hexameter means, and I don't care.

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