THE ENTOMBMENT OF ANTINOUS

AFTER the process of mummification had been completed, and the ceremony of the Opening of the Mouth had given life to the eternal vessel of Antinous, his body was carried on a boat shaped bier into the newly constructed and consecrated tomb.

The tomb was perhaps located in the sacred city of Antinoopolis, but this is not certain.

It might have also been located in Rome, at Hadrian's Mausoleum, or at the Villa of Tibur.

No one knows, because the tomb and the body of Antinous are lost.

Flamen Antonius Subia says:

"We must search for his remains and for his final resting place within our selves. The Entombment of Antinous, like his return to Bithynia, is a final triumph of the Body of Antinous, it is the final part of the earthly journey, and the occasion of the most solemn ceremonies of dedication. We are the Tomb of Antinous, and the Entombment is our moment of impregnation."

This 1938 painting by Robert Hale Ives Gammell is entitled "The Garden of Persephone."

Antonius interprets it thusly:

"Antinous reaps the harvest of our destinies ... Venus and Persephone stand behind him ... his temple blossoms again upon the Holy Mountain."