Bagoas (courtier)

Bagoas (Old Persian: Bagāvahyā; Ancient Greek: Βαγώας, Bagōas) was a eunuch in the court of the Persian Empire in the 4th century BC.^[1][2] Bagoas was a courtier of Darius III^[a][3] and later of Alexander the Great.^[4]

Bagoas is mentioned in three surviving sources and is distinct from Bagoas the Elder, who attempted to assassinate Darius III.^[5] In Parallel Lives, he is only briefly mentioned during a dance competition, but in the Histories of Alexander the Great by Quintus Curtius Rufus he is given a more elaborate role in Alexander's court.^[6] Only the elder Bagoas is elaborated upon in the source by Diodorus Siculus.^[7]

Historian William Woodthorpe Tarn rejected the stories of Bagoas as fabricated in ancient times to defame Alexander, mainly referring to the Rufus's fairly fictionalized biography of Alexander that criticized the Macedonian's "degeneration" in embracing foreign Persian customs.^[8] In 1958, Ernst Badian rejected Tarn's analysis, suggesting that Alexander was more of a ruthless dictator and that Tarn was blinded by bias.^[9] Author Mary Renault also addressed Rufus's biased animosity towards Alexander, stating: "[Rufus's account of Alexander] is bent that way by recourse to Athenian anti-Macedonian agitprop, written by men who never set eyes on him, and bearing about as much relation to objective truth as one would expect to find in a History of the Jewish People commissioned by Adolf Hitler."^[8]

According to Plutarch,^[10] Bagoas won a dancing contest after the crossing of the Gedrosian Desert and the Macedonian troops applauded and demanded that drunk Alexander kiss Bagoas, and he did so.^[4][11]

… one day after [Alexander] had drunk pretty hard, it is said, he went to see a prize of dancing contended for, in which his favourite Bagoas, having gained the victory, crossed the theatre in his dancing habit, and sat down close by him, which so pleased the Macedonians, that they made loud acclamations for him to kiss Bagoas, and never stopped clapping their hands and shouting till Alexander put his arms round him and kissed him.

— Plutarch, Parallel Lives (second century AD)

The fullest surviving account of Bagoas is given in the Latin Histories of Alexander the Great by Rufus, a first century Roman historian.^[12] Rufus focuses on the degeneration of Alexander, and illustrates this with an account of the machinations of his eunuch, Bagoas. Bagoas is described as "in the flower of his youth,"^[13] and was appointed first by Darius III and later given to Alexander by Nabarzanes. In this account, Bagoas weaponizes his inherited place in Alexander's court to destroy his enemies. The Persian satrap Orxines earns the enmity of Bagoas by refusing to pay him respect in court, claiming it is not Persian custom to pay respect to men used as women, and refers to Bagoas as a whore. Bagoas thus manoeuvres to have Orxines accused of plundering the tomb of Cyrus the Great, and the satrap is executed for this crime. In his final words, Orxines decries the state of affairs: "I had heard that women were once rulers in Asia but this really is something new – a eunuch a king!".^[8]

• Bagoas is the narrator and title character of The Persian Boy, the historical novel by Mary Renault, which portrays him sympathetically. He reappears in a smaller but still significant role in the sequel Funeral Games.^[14][8]
• He appears in Les Conquêtes d'Alexandre by Roger Peyrefitte. Peyrefitte's Bagoas rides to battle by the side of Darius.^[b]
• He is played by Francisco Bosch in the Oliver Stone film Alexander (2004), which is based in part on Renault's writings, and contains the dancing scene, although a love scene was cut from the film.^[8]
• He is also a major character in Jo Graham's novel Stealing Fire, part of her Numinous World series.^[14]

• "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