Eromenos
by Melanie McDonald
List Price: $14.99
Pages: 176
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780983155409
Publisher: Seriously Good Books
Eros and Thanatos converge in the story of a glorious youth, an untimely death, and an imperial love that gives rise to a pagan god.
In this coming-of-age novel set in the second century AD, Antinous of Bithynia, a Greek youth from Asia Minor, recounts his seven-year affair with Hadrian, fourteenth emperor of Rome. In a partnership more intimate than Hadrian’s sanctioned political marriage to Sabina, Antinous captivates the most powerful ruler on earth both in life and after death.
This version of the affair between the emperor and his beloved ephebe vindicates the youth scorned by early Christian church fathers such as St. Athanasius as a “shameless and scandalous boy” and “sordid and loathsome instrument of his master’s lust.”
Eromenos envisions the personal history of the young man who achieved apotheosis as a pagan god of antiquity, whose cult of worship lasted for hundreds of years, far longer than the cult of the emperor Hadrian. In this novel, Antinous of Bithynia, the Greek youth whose beautiful image still may be found in works of art in museums around the world, finds a voice of his own at last.
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1. Though a member of the Imperial Court of Rome, Antinous was Greek. How might his nationality have affected his perceptions of Roman culture?
2. What effect did class differences have on Antinous’ relationships with the other students at the Imperial School? What effect did they have on his relationship with Hadrian?
3. How would Antinous’ coming of age --- “taking on the white toga” --- impact his relationship with Hadrian?
4. In what ways were Roman society’s perceptions and assumptions about homosexuality similar to those of contemporary society? In what ways might these perceptions and assumptions differ from those of today?
5. Controversy still exists today over whether the actual death of Antinous was a murder, a suicide, or an accident. How does the author of this novel choose to portray his death? What incidents in the novel might be seen as factors that contribute to the character’s choice to sacrifice himself in devotio suicide?
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“What is the nature of love? Of control? These big questions without easy answers are the heart of the book, as we watch Antinous come to his own conclusions about both.
No one knows what happened to the real Antinous. All that is known is that he drowned in the Nile and then Hadrian deified him. McDonald has given us the imaginary voice of a young man whose image has been immortalized in busts and sculptures, a young man who very well may have been as haunted as his death is mysterious.”
— Foreword Reviews
“. . .Antinous is a complex character. . .rigorous attention to historical accuracy and a vivid recreation of Roman society in the second century AD. . .most impressive. . .”
— Booksquawk
“. . .eminently readable, historically accurate, there are depths to discover, symbols, foreshadowings, and it’s all written beautifully, too, which made this a five star read. . .”
— Speak Its Name
“I sat down to read just a few pages of Eromenos by Melanie J. McDonald and I couldn’t put it down. I read the entire novel in one sitting. . .”
— Three Dollar Bill Reviews
