Rumours spread throughout the Empire that at Antinous' cultic centre in Antinopolis, there were "sacred nights" characterised by drunken revelries, perhaps including sexual orgies.[81]

Antinous was understood differently by his various worshippers, in part due to regional and cultural variation. In some inscriptions he is identified as a divine hero, in others as a god, and in others as both a divine hero and a god. Conversely, in many Egyptian inscriptions he is described as both a hero and a god, while in others he was seen as a full god, and in Egypt, he was often understood as a daemon.[54]Inscriptions indicate that Antinous was seen primarily as a benevolent deity, who could be turned to aid his worshippers.[55] He was also seen as a conqueror of death, with his name and image often being included in coffins.[56]>

Hi! I used Google to find related Voat posts using the URL(s) in your post and created the following link(s):

Another possibility is that Antinous represented a voluntary human sacrifice. Our earliest surviving evidence for this comes from the writings of Dio Cassius, 80 years after the event, although it would later be repeated in many subsequent sources. In the second century Roman Empire, a belief that the death of one could rejuvenate the health of another was widespread, and Hadrian had been ill for many years; in this scenario, Antinous could have sacrificed himself in the belief that Hadrian would have recovered. Alternately, in Egyptian tradition it was held that sacrifices of boys to the Nile, particularly at the time of the October Osiris festival, would ensure that the River would flood to its full capacity and thus fertilise the valley; this was made all the more urgent as the Nile's floods had been insufficient for full agricultural production in both 129 and 130. In this situation, Hadrian might not have revealed the cause of Antinous's death because he did not wish to appear either physically or politically weak. Conversely, opposing this possibility is the fact that Hadrian disliked human sacrifice and had strengthened laws against it in the Empire.[40]>

Wasn't there something mentioned a while back about a drowning in James Alefantis's fraternity? I wonder if this was his secret Greek name.