Favorinus Finally Finished

Though nothing has been posted to The Sacred Antinous site in about a month, that is not to be taken as evidence that I haven’t been working on it! Yesterday’s update brings to the Sacred Texts a completed draft of The Oratory of Favorinus.

I say “draft” because that’s exactly what it is: an as yet un-produced play that will likely undergo various tweaks as I work toward getting it mounted. And that, as it turns out, is what I intend to do over the coming months. In anticipation of producing The Oratory of Favorinus, I’ve already spoken with an actor whom I’ve identified as a perfect candidate to play the titular role, and I’ve also secured a small, intimate venue in order to premiere it. The locale will be a “micro-theatre” – a space that exists pretty much under the radar of most of Toronto’s mainstream theatre critics and audiences alike. But that’s exactly what I love about it, given the fact that the Oratory probably won’t have broad, mainstream appeal anyway. It will thus be a select few who know about the play, much less come to see it.

For those unable (or unwilling) to see the production, the complete text has now been posted to the site. Structurally, the play is multi-layered and thus somewhat demanding – for both actors and audience alike. From a starting point in the year 128 CE, Favorinus takes his Roman listeners (who is in fact the modern-day audience) back to about 700 BCE. While there, he presents an imaginative little one-man show by re-enacting the various voices from three competing clans as they debate the pros and cons of legalizing and formalizing the practice of Athenian pederasty. This in turn is used as “evidence” toward his argument that simple and uncomplicated lust can serve a heroic function, as it is his lust for Timarchus that ultimately compels the winning argument of Nyanthes. In effect, Favorinus “syncretises” Antinous (who is in his Roman audience) with the Greek youth Timarchus, and thus presents Hadrian’s failure to have sex with Antinous as a shirking of his Emperor’s heroic duty. Convoluted? You bet! But hey – this is Favorinus we’re talking about… complex and twisting arguments are to be expected, no?

Anyway, given that actual historical data of how and when pederasty came about is relatively scarce (I’ve consulted in this regard the book Pederasty and Pedagogy in Ancient Greece – see the Investigations page for more info), I’ve taken incredible liberties with not only the characters present in the Athenian Assembly, but also their formulations, tribal affiliations, governing structure, viewpoints, and arguments. In other words, if the “history” as recounted by Favorinus were a straight-ahead attempt at telling it “like it really was,” I’d probably be walking on very thin ice indeed. But I’m absolved, as it were, by the fact that this perspective is not exactly my own view on the matter. Rather, it’s the intentionally biased view of Favorinus, as “faithfully recorded” by me. So if Favorinus fudges a bit of the history in order to deliver a more successful oratory, who am I to call him on it? I’m just the messenger! (How’s that for shirking responsibility?)

Furthermore, in addition to the questionable historicity of his story, even the most amateur historian will probably also note how recklessly Favorinus deviates from the established formal custom of giving an oratory. The concept of a “one-man show” would probably have been utterly alien to his ancient Roman audience, and it’s unlikely he (or any of his contemporaries) would ever have resorted to such a device. Then again, can anyone say with the utmost certainty that he didn’t? And given that Favorinus – the effeminate and hermaphroditic foreigner – was generally celebrated for the fact that he was so famously different from all the other “normal” orators, the probability that his speaking style and methodology also differed from his peers is, although not high, perhaps a bit higher than if he had simply been one of the “good-old-boys” of rhetoric.

All of this to say that The Oratory of Favorinus, while intended to be performed under the pretension of “historical authenticity,” is probably quite inaccurate from an historical perspective. Its purpose is much more about creating an artistically interesting and dramatically significant “turning point” for the mind of Hadrian within the semi-fictionalized world of The Sacred Antinous. In fact, were I approaching this purely from a factual and historical place, I’d be willing to bet a vast sum of money that, some 1900 years ago, the famous hermaphrodite had absolutely nothing to do with getting Antinous into Hadrian’s bed. But as a modern-day storyteller, I deliberately constructed the Oratory to bring to a climactic close the protracted drama of Hadrian’s “abstinence,” as well as coincide Antinous’ “de-flowering” with Hadrian’s assumption of pater patriae. In other words, it was important to me that they both had their (ahem…) “peak experience” on the same day.

Not surprisingly, the Epistles have been put on hold this past month while I’ve worked toward completing the Oratory. And given that they were also put on hold for The Isthmian Odes, it’s been some time since the addition of 063. While I regret this, I must also admit that I feel better knowing that I’m tying up loose ends as I go along, rather than leaving many Sacred Texts unfinished. This suggests to me that I really ought to be concentrating on wrapping up The Gospel of Gryllus too, before moving on with the Epistles. Not only will this give the entire site a more “completed” feel (at least for the year 1 launch phase), but it will also open up the possibility of following up a performance of the Oratory with one for The Gospel of Gryllus.

So there’s lots to think about (and do!) in the coming weeks. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy The Oratory of Favorinus, and look forward to giving you more details about when and where it will be mounted…