Bagoas (courtier)
Encyclopedia
Bagoas was a eunuch
in the Persian Empire
in the 4th Century BCE, said to have been the catamite
of Darius III, and later the Eromenos (Beloved) of Alexander the Great.
Eunuch
A eunuch is a person born male most commonly castrated, typically early enough in his life for this change to have major hormonal consequences...
in the Persian Empire
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire , sometimes known as First Persian Empire and/or Persian Empire, was founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation...
in the 4th Century BCE, said to have been the catamite
Catamite
A catamite was a handsome youth kept as a sexual companion in ancient Rome, usually in a pederastic relationship. The word derives from the proper noun Catamitus, the Latinized form of Ganymede, the beautiful Trojan youth abducted by Zeus to be his companion and cupbearer...
of Darius III, and later the Eromenos (Beloved) of Alexander the Great.
The Famous Kiss
According to Plutarch, Bagoas, beloved of Alexander, won a dancing contest after the crossing of the Gedrossian Desert. The troops, with whom Bagoas was very popular, demanded Alexander kiss Bagoas, and he did so.Fictionalized versions
- Bagoas is the narrator and title character of The Persian BoyThe Persian BoyThe Persian Boy is a 1972 historical novel written by Mary Renault and narrated by Bagoas, a young Persian from an aristocratic family who is captured by his father's enemies, castrated, and sold as a slave to the king Darius III, who makes him his favorite...
, the historical novelHistorical novelAccording to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...
by Mary RenaultMary RenaultMary Renault born Eileen Mary Challans, was an English writer best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece...
, which portrays him sympathetically. He reappears in a smaller but still significant role in the sequel Funeral Games. - He makes an even briefer appearance in Les Conquêtes d'Alexandre by Roger Peyrefitte. Peyrefitte, unlike Renault, has Bagoas riding to battle by the side of Darius.
- He is also a major character in Jo GrahamJo GrahamJo Graham is an American author who debuted in 2008 with her novel Black Ships, a re-imagination of The Aeneid. She lives in Maryland...
's novel Stealing Fire, part of her Numinous World series. Graham's Bagoas is basically the same as Renault's, except that he is more willing to find a new lover after the death of Alexander. - He is played by Francisco BoschFrancisco BoschFrancisco Bosch is a Spanish actor and dancer. He was born in Valencia.His interest in dance began when his grandmother took him to a meeting of her flamenco group when he was five years old...
in the Oliver StoneOliver StoneWilliam Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...
film AlexanderAlexander (film)Alexander is a 2004 epic film based on the life of Alexander the Great. It is not a remake of the 1956 film which starred Richard Burton. It was directed by Oliver Stone, with Colin Farrell in the title role...
, which is based in part on Renault's writings.
Sources
- AthenaeusAthenaeusAthenaeus , of Naucratis in Egypt, Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourished about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century AD...
, DeipnosophistaeDeipnosophistaeThe Deipnosophistae may be translated as The Banquet of the Learned or Philosophers at Dinner or The Gastronomers...
, xiii; PlutarchPlutarchPlutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
, Parallel LivesParallel LivesPlutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, commonly called Parallel Lives or Plutarch's Lives, is a series of biographies of famous men, arranged in tandem to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings, written in the late 1st century...
, "Alexander", 67; AelianClaudius AelianusClaudius Aelianus , often seen as just Aelian, born at Praeneste, was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric who flourished under Septimius Severus and probably outlived Elagabalus, who died in 222...
, Varia Historia, iii. 23; Curtius, Historiae Alexandri Magni, vi. 5; x. 1
External links
- "Bagoas Pleads on Behalf of Nabarzanes," illuminated parchment by the Master of the Jardin de vertueuse consolation, in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum