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[3][4] and later of Alexander the Great.[5]

Bagoas' kiss

According to Plutarch,[6] Bagoas won a dancing contest after the Macedonian crossing of the Gedrosian Desert. The Macedonian troops, with whom Bagoas was very popular, demanded that king Alexander should kiss Bagoas, and he did so.[5]

Fictionalized versions

  • 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.
  • The Serpent's Oath (2021) by A.R. Valeson portrays a historical fiction romance between King Henry VIII's Master Secretary, Thomas Cromwell and the eunuch, Arthamaeus, inspired by the courtier Bagoas.
  • He makes an even briefer appearance in Les Conquêtes d'Alexandre by Roger Peyrefitte. Peyrefitte, unlike Mary Renault, has Bagoas riding to battle by the side of Darius.
  • He is also a major character in Jo Graham's novel Stealing Fire, part of her Numinous World series. Graham's Bagoas is basically the same as Mary Renault's, except that he is more willing to find a new lover after the death of Alexander the Great.
  • He is played by Francisco Bosch in the Oliver Stone film Alexander (2004), which is based in part on Renault's writings.
  • In the Red Dwarf episode "Marooned," Arnold Rimmer confesses that he did past-life regression, and that he discovered he was "Alexander the Great's chief eunuch"; many believe Bagoas to be the eunuch in question, though Rob Grant and Doug Naylor didn't seem to know of Bagoas' existence at the time.

Notes

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ Rufus 1714, p. 78, Book II, Chapter I.
  3. ↑ Rufus 1714, p. 331, Book VI, Chapter V: "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..."
  4. ↑ Aelianus, Claudius (1670) [1665]. "Chapter XXIII of Alexander". Various Histories (Varia Historia). Vol. III. Translated by Thomas Stanley (2nd ed.). London: Thomas Basset. pp. 63–99.
  5. 1 2 Rufus 1714, p. 169, Book X, Chapter I.
  6. ↑ Plutarch (1865) [1859]. "Life of Alexander". In Clough, Arthur Hugh (ed.). Plutarch's Lives. Vol. IV. Translated by John Dryden (2nd ed.). London, United Kingdom: University College, London. p. 67 – via Wikisource.

Sources

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