Bagoas (courtier)

Eunuch in the court of the Persian Empire

For the elder Bagoas, poisoner of Artaxerxes III and Arses, see Bagoas.

Bagoas pleads on behalf of Nabarzanes, by Master of the Jardin de vertueuse consolation and assistant (Flemish, active 3rd quarter of 15th century). (1450–1475)

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] He is mentioned in just three surviving sources, but his existence is now generally accepted, and as distinct from Bagoas the Elder, who attempted to assassinate Darius III.[5]

## Rufus

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The fullest surviving account of Bagoas is given in the Latin Historiae Alexandri Magni, "Histories of Alexander the Great"' by Quintus Curtius Rufus, a first century Roman historian, and in a 1468 French translations of the same, Livre des fais d'Alexandre le grant.[6] 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,"[7] and was used first by Darius III and was given to Alexander by Nabarzanes. In this account, Alexander takes Bagoas as a lover and the enuch gains influence with him. 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 by which the enuch is now the king. In so doing he points to the influence Bagoas had gained over Alexander.[8]

## Bagoas' kiss

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According to Plutarch,[9] Bagoas, Alexander's favourite, won a dancing contest after the Macedonian crossing of the Gedrosian Desert. Bagoas came and sat beside Alexander, still in his performer's costume. The Macedonian troops, with whom Bagoas was very popular, applauded and demanded that Alexander should kiss Bagoas, and he did so.[4][10]

## Fictionalized versions

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* 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.[11][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 contain's 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.[11]

## Notes

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1. ^ "Bagoas, an Eunuch, who was in the flower of his Youth, and had been familiarly us'd by Darius formerly, and was now by Alexander..."Rufus 1714, p. 331, Book VI, Chapter V
2. ^ Un jeune cavalier de seize ans, d’une radieuse beauté, paré d’or et de perles, portait l’insigne royal, une aigle d’or aux ailes déployées, fixée sur une pique d’argent: c’était Bagoas, l’eunuque et mignon favori de Darius. - A young rider of sixteen, of radiant beauty, adorned with gold and pearls, wore the royal insignia, a golden eagle with outstretched wings, fixed on a silver pike: it was Bagoas, the eunuch and favourite mignon of Darius.[12]

## References

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1. ^ Athanaeus.
2. ^ Rufus 1714, p. 78, Book II, Chapter I.
3. ^ Aelianus 1670.
4. ^ a b Rufus 1714, p. 169, Book X, Chapter I.
5. ^ McIlvain 2020.
6. ^ Getty Museum n.d.
7. ^ Rufus 1714, p. 331, Book IV, Chapter V.
8. ^ a b c Tougher 2008.
9. ^ Clough 1865.
10. ^ Roisman 2003, p. 300.
11. ^ a b Baynham & Ryan 2018.
12. ^ Peyrefitte 1979, p. 259.

## Sources

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* Athenaeus of Naucratis (1854). "Chapter 80". The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned. Vol. XIII. Translated by Charles Duke Yonge. London: Bohn's Classical Library. LCCN 2002554451. OCLC 49415755 - via Perseus Digital Library.
* Aelianus, Claudius (1670) [1665]. Various Histories (Varia Historia). Translated by Thomas Stanley (2nd ed.). London, United Kingdom: Thomas Basset.
* Athenaeus of Naucratis (1854). The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned. Translated by Charles Duke Yonge. London, United Kingdom: Bohn's Classical Library. LCCN 2002554451. OCLC 49415755 - via Perseus Digital Library.
* Badian, E. (November 1958). "The Eunuch Bagoas". The Classical Quarterly. 8 (3–4): 144–157. doi:10.1017/S0009838800021765.
* Baynham, Elizabeth; Ryan, Terry (26 April 2018). ""The Unmanly Ruler": Bagoas, Alexander's Eunuch Lover, Mary Renault's The Persian Boy, and Alexander Reception". Brill's Companion to the Reception of Alexander the Great. Brill: 615–639. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
* "Livre des fais d'Alexandre le grant (The J. Paul Getty Museum Collection)". The J. Paul Getty Museum Collection. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
* McIlvain, Lynnie (20 November 2020). "Bagoas the Younger: Who Was Alexander the Great's Little-Known Lover?". TheCollector.
* Peyrefitte, Roger (1979). Les conquêtes d'Alexandre (in French). A. Michel. ISBN 978-2-226-00878-7. "Un jeune cavalier de seize ans, d'une radieuse beauté, paré d'or et de perles, portait l'insigne royal, une aigle d'or aux ailes déployées, fixée sur une pique d'argent: c'était Bagoas, l'eunuque et mignon favori de Darius."
* Plutarch (1865) [1859]. Clough, Arthur Hugh (ed.). Parallel Lives. Translated by John Dryden (2nd ed.). London, United Kingdom: University College, London - via Wikisource.
* Roisman, Joseph (2003). Brill's companion to Alexander the Great. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 9789004124639.
* Rufus, Quintus Curtius; et al. (Foreword by Johann Freinsheim) (1714). Histories of Alexander the Great. Vol. I. Translated by John Digby. London, United Kingdom: W.B. for Bernard Lintott - via Archive.org.
* Tougher, Sean (2008). "The Renault Bagoas: The Treatemnet of Alexander the Great's Eunuch in Mary Renault's The Persian Boy" (PDF). New Voices in Classical Reception Studies (3): 77–89. Retrieved 12 June 2024.

## External links

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* "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