Bagoas

c. 5th century BCE–c. 4th century BCE

Bagoas was a Persian eunuch connected with the court of Alexander the Great after the Macedonian conquest of the Achaemenid Empire. Ancient sources present him as part of the intimate and ceremonial world around Alexander, though details of his life are filtered through Greek and Roman writers.

In Mary Renault’s The Persian Boy, Bagoas, a Persian aristocrat's son, is captured, enslaved and made a eunuch before entering the court of Darius III.

In non-fiction, Bagoas is discussed in Diodorus Siculus’s The Library, Books 16-20 and Quintus Curtius Rufus’s The History of Alexander. Diodorus Siculus’s The Library, Books 16-20 approaches the subject through military command and battlefield decision-making, court politics and dynastic power, and empire, conquest and resistance.

Historical context

Historical periods linked to Bagoas

Alexander the Great 336–323 BCE Ancient World 2,200 BCE–628 CE

Series

Series featuring Bagoas (1 series)

Alexander the Great Trilogy in Order

by Mary Renault 3 books 4.4

The Alexander trilogy follows Alexander from childhood at the Macedonian court through the conquest of the Achaemenid Empire and into the violent struggle that followed his death. Fire from Heaven concentrates on his formation under Philip II, Olympias and Aristotle; The Persian Boy narrates the later campaigns through…

All books in this series