Lydia, after telling his origin, saying he was born in ancient Rome at the time of Emperor Hadrian, reveals that he was the reincarnation of Antinous, his only love!
It has been noted that Cather broaches 'the enduring aura of a homosexual myth' as she alludes to Antinous several times in her poems.
The title refers to an Egyptian fellah, or peasant, but statue appears to be a copy of a Roman statue of Antinous, a favorite of the Emperor Hadrian, which was discovered in the excavation of Hadrian's villa in Tivoli in 1739.
Antinous |