Bagoas (

Old Persian Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as ( ...

: ''Bagāvahyā'', grc, Βαγώας ''Bagōas'') was the name of two

eunuchs A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2n ...

in the court of the Persian Empire in the 4th century BC. Bagoas the Younger was a courtier of

Darius Darius may refer to: Persian royalty ;Kings of the Achaemenid Empire * Darius I (the Great, 550 to 487 BC) * Darius II (423 to 404 BC) * Darius III (Codomannus, 380 to 330 BC) ;Crown princes * Darius (son of Xerxes I), crown prince of Persia, ma ...

and later of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

Bagoas' kiss

According to

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ...

, Bagoas won a dancing contest after the Macedonian crossing of the

Gedrosian Desert Gedrosia (; el, Γεδρωσία) is the Hellenized name of the part of coastal Balochistan that roughly corresponds to today's Makran. In books about Alexander the Great and his successors, the area referred to as Gedrosia runs from the Indu ...

. The Macedonian troops, with whom Bagoas was very popular, demanded that king Alexander should kiss Bagoas, and he did so.

Fictionalized versions

* Bagoas is the narrator and title character of '' The Persian Boy'', the

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other t ...

Mary Renault Eileen Mary Challans (4 September 1905 – 13 December 1983), known by her pen name Mary Renault ("She always pronounced it 'Ren-olt', though almost everyone would come to speak of her as if she were a French car." ), was an English writer best ...

, 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 William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sca ...

film ''

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

'' (2004), which is based in part on Renault's writings.

Notes

Sources

* * * *{{cite book , volume=I , translator=John Digby , publication-place=London, United Kingdom , year=1714 , via=

Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music ...

, author-link=Quintus Curtius Rufus , title= Histories of Alexander the Great , publisher=W.B. for Bernard Lintott , collaboration=Foreword by Johann Freinsheim , first=Quintus Curtius , last=Rufus

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 Ancient LGBT people Male lovers of royalty People from the Achaemenid Empire Iranian eunuchs Trierarchs of Nearchus' fleet Lovers of Alexander the Great Courtiers of Alexander the Great 4th-century BC people Ancient slaves