ANTINOUS IN SMYRNA

PROCEEDING down the coast of Asia Minor, Antinous and Hadrian arrived in the port city of Smryna in May of 129, which was a major trading port between the interior and the Aegean sea.

The city was a major source of the incense myrrh from which it is believed to have been named.  The incense was obtained from the sap of a tree said to have once been a maiden named Myrrha daughter of Cinyras who was the son of Venus.  Myrrha was turned into the tree which sheds the incense tears, and it was from this tree, like the incense, that the boy Adonis was born.

It is believed that the cult of Myrrha, also called Smryna, of Adonis her son and his tragic love affair with Venus were originally brought from Phoenicia to the port city and from Smyrna was spread to the Greeks.

Smyrna was one of the places where the wandering Homer is said to have lived and a temple of Homer was located in the city.

Their host in Smyrna was the sophist Polemon, one of the foremost intellectuals of the age, who was Hadrian's trusted advisor.  Polemon organized a Bull Hunt, or Tauromachy in the Hispanic style which he knew would delight Hadrian.

A bull ring was constructed, and a rare wild Aurochs bull was fought by beautiful young men.  Hadrian and Antinous may have entered the ring to fight the bull.

Hadrian being from Spain, where the bull has always been a sacred animal, introduced Antinous to the sacred Bull Fight where a young warrior must prove his courage against the wild ferocious beast.

Hadrian delighted in fast paced conversation with Polemon in archaic Greek and Antinous was expected to respond accordingly when addressed, and he seems to have made a good impression on Polemon because after the deification, Polemon was one of the earliest and most ardent proponents of the New Religion, one of our greatest advocates.

Polemon organized the Cult of Antinous in Asia Minor and instituted the building of temples and priesthoods.

He issued Antinous coins which show Antinous on the front and a bull on the reverse, each coin bearing his own name.

The symbolism of the bull on the coins is mysterious but may have a connection to the cult of Dionysus or may also suggest the Cult of Mithras which originated in Asia Minor and was at its greatest strength when Polemon issued his sacred Antinous coins.

It may also have been a commemoration of the bullfight held for Hadrian where Polemon first met the young man, soon to become a god, in which Antinous bravely fought the Aurochs bull. We remember Polemon as a Saint of Antinous who not only knew Antinous in life but was one of the foremost advocates who advanced our religion from the inception. 

Ave Antinous!