The Persian Boy

This is another two-for-one book! It is a historical fiction about the life of Alexander the Great, told by his male lover, Bagoas. But it was written in 1972, only five years after the decriminalization of homosexuality in the UK. Bagoas is a nuanced character; he is frank about the nature of his love for Alexander the Great, and there are even a few sex scenes! As I read it, I couldn’t help reflecting on how groundbreaking this must have seemed in the context of the 1970s. 

Mary Renault is a very interesting figure in her own right. She was… show more.

This is one of the first books I found when I was scrounging around for gay literature in Indian bookshops in the early 1980s. I re-read it every few years; as one of Oscar Wilde’s characters remarks, “If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”

Renault brings the ancient Greek world to life as no other novelist has. She delineates the wonderfully erotic and moving relationship between Alexander the Great and his Persian lover, Bagoas, who narrates the story.

This is the second book in Mary Renault’s amazing Alexandriad, telling there story of the adult Alexander the Great through the eyes of the eunuch Bagoas.

It is truly astonishing, allowing the reader to effectively experience Alexander’s story in the first person as though one were actually there. The book introduces a brilliant cast of supporting characters too, bringing all to life in a way rarely repeated. Highly recommended. 

From the first time I opened the pages of this book many years ago, I fell in love with it.

There is nothing more tender in literature than the sensitive eunuch who falls in love with Alexander the Great, the first man to treat him courteously. Though Alexander returns the love, his energies are divided between his endless battles, his old lover, and his obligatory wife. The intensity of their closeness is kept bright by the boy Bagoas.

Every time I reread this novel, my soul opens.

Although published in 1972, this novel feels as fresh as the day it was written. I read it as a child, a long time before I knew what ‘gay’ was, let alone knew it meant me. But the voice of the narrator Bagoas spoke to me clear across the centuries. He’s a young man from the time of Alexander the Great, sold as a eunuch slave, and he’s heartbreaking, funny, and poignant. An absolutely stunning creation.

The novel also taught me how it’s far more effective to write about a famous historical character from the viewpoint of a bystander.

The Persian Boy centers on the most tempestuous years of Alexander the Great’s life, as seen through the eyes of his lover and most faithful attendant, Bagoas. The Persian Boy takes place before the Arab invasion, a time in Persian history that altered the religion, culture, and people in profound ways. The result is a riveting account of a great conqueror’s years of triumph and, ultimately, heartbreak.