Mnester

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Mnester († 48 , probably in Rome ) was a popular Roman pantomime .

Life

Mnester was a famous Roman pantomime . As his acting and dancing performance, the performance of the myth of Kinyras and Myrrha is historically tangible. He became famous during the reign of Emperor Tiberius . Because of his good looks, he is said to have had a homosexual relationship with Emperor Caligula , who used to kiss him publicly at theater performances . Under Caligula's successor, Claudius , his popularity at the imperial court continued. Poppaea Sabina the Elder counted him among her lovers, as did Valeria Messalina , Claudius' wife, whom Poppaea Sabina had removed as a rival and had a bronze statue of her favorite made from melted Caligula coins. Because Mnester initially refused to be intimate with her, she is said - as Cassius Dio reports - to have coerced him by an order from her ignorant husband. Claudius' command stated in general terms that Mnester should obey her. During the period of their close relationship, Messalina made sure that Mnester stayed away from the theater, which led to critical public inquiries against the emperor.

When Claudius was informed by his office manager Narcissus in 48 that Messalina had found a new lover in the politician Gaius Silius and that he had publicly married him in his absence and that both wanted to overthrow him, the emperor had the couple seized and executed. Along with other confidants of Messalina, Mnester was also on a list of people who were threatened with execution. In the subsequent proceedings, Mnester was accused of participating in or complicity in the attempted coup as well as of cohabiting with the imperial wife. In this regard, Mnester tried to placate Claudius by insisting on his innocence in Messalina's attempt to overthrow and plausibly arguing that, as Messalina's ex-lover, he could hardly have been interested in it, because if Gaius Silius took over his own life, his own life would be threatened would. To underline his innocence in intercourse with the Empress, he pointed out that he, Mnester, was to fulfill Messalina's wishes on Claudius' imperial command. These hints are said to have worked at first, the emperor was undecided and tended to spare monsters. However, freedmen who frequented the imperial court are said to have changed Claudius's mind again and - by comparing the high social status of other death row inmates with Mnester's lower social status as actors - convinced that Mnester deserved death. Therefore, he was finally executed.

reception

Various authors from antiquity received Mnester's tragic figure:

In modern times the interest awakened in him. The following publications, among others, dealt with him:

1951 played Jean Tissier the role of Mnester in Carmine Gallones strips The cruel Beautiful - Messalina , 1968 Mark Hawkins portrayed him in the British television series The Caesars . In the 1970s, his historical figure was interpreted in the TV series Ich, Claudius - Kaiser und Gott (1976) by the British actor Nicholas Amer (1923-2019), also in the film Caligula (1979) by the actor Rick Parets. Nicolas Le Riche created the ballet Caligula (2005) for the Paris Opera , in which the character of Mnester, embodied by Stéphane Bullion (* 1980), was also interpreted.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Hausmann: The reader guidance by Tacitus in the Tiberius and Claudius books of the "Annals" . Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-11-021876-3 , p. 301 ( Google Books )
personal data
SURNAME Mnester
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman pantomime
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century
DATE OF DEATH 48
Place of death uncertain: Rome