Persian Boy

This is a monumental work, giving access to the last days of the Persian Empire, and the birth of the Macedonian one that replaced it. The horrors of cruelty that were the tragic rule rather than the exception are difficult to swallow, but then, of course, they should be. The castration of Bagoas not yet in his teens, and the long sad struggle he had to get through to a place in the sun, should call for sympathy, admiration, and a firm determination to do something effective to remedy the lives of so many young folk who, like him, are psychologically, or even physically maimed to turn them into gruesome 'cash-cows' our own era - either as beggars on the streets or slaves in brothels - even here in sunny Australia, tragically. But this book doesn't stand on its own, it is the second in a trilogy that is meticulously researched as well as most skilfully written - the background details are all authentic - and furthermore it is the seventh in Renault's unique novelistic chronicle of ancient Greek history - a work that, in my opinion, surpasses even Gore Vidal's history of the USA in a virtually equivalent number of novels. The whole series is a mine of information - back when I was struggling to learn Greek, the professor told me that it was unsurpassed as a window into Classical Culture. And there is more, much more, In this book we get to accompany Alexander virtually step by step in his conquest of the huge empire that had threatened the Greek cities for centuries - we go as far as INDIA before the tragic end of the dream... and it really seems to have been Alexander's dream to unify the world, as Cyrus the Great had unified the Asian mainland centuries before. At least this is the way Renault reads it, and she produces enough evidence from the facts to make it a very credible thesis. I thoroughly recommend all Renault's Greek history novels, and especially this one. Bagoas was a real historical character (check him out on Wikipedia!). His beauty, courage, and intelligence are all on record - his survival alone, in the face of such huge handicaps, not to mention his astonishing success, makes this slice of history a wonderful inspiration!

Very rarely do I read books that are for mature audience. I prefer children's fantasy. But this book has changed everything for me. Fantasy is like the moon: beautiful, magestic, yet we only ever see one side of it. Mary Renault explores the other side. In her interpretation, our love of heroism becomes what Sigmund Freud called Penis Envy. Read this trilogy only if you are willing to give up your innocent fascination with fantasy. I had no idea this would happen. But I am okay with it. It was an experience of a lifetime.

Ci sono libri che sono in grado di cambiarti la vita poiché riescono a farti vedere il mondo sotto una prospettiva diversa, talvolta addirittura stravolta. “Il ragazzo Persiano” di Mary Renault è senza dubbio uno di questi. Una biografia travolgente di uno dei personaggi storici più interessanti della storia dell’umanità: Alessandro Magno. Una biografia insolita perchè il tutto è narrato in prima persona da un “barbaro”, un persiano per l’appunto. È Bagoas il protagonista del romanzo, prima favorito di Dario III per poi divenire l’ἐρώμενος (amato) del re macedone. Il romanzo uscì nel 1972 e fu sicuramente innovativo e molto avanti con i tempi dato che vi è una rappresentazione positiva e normalizzata dei rapporti omoerotici. Mary Renault è in grado di calare il lettore nell’ottica e nella prospettiva dell’uomo antico senza i filtri della visione etica e politica della contemporaneità come troppo spesso avviene nei retelling odierni di vicende riguardanti l’antichità. Il livello di inglese richiesto per questa lettura a mio parere è grossomodo un B2.

The book discussion group at the LGBT Center in NYC read this novel in September 2015. As expected, consensus on the novel was split. About half the readers loved the book and were captivated by this romantic story. And the other half liked it, but thought that it was too long and old fashioned. A couple of themes emerged. We were fascinated by the first-person narration from the point of view of a young eunuch. While most stories center around Alexander's much better known life-long lover Hephaistion, Mary selected Bagoas to tell this story. This is a fascinating choice since it allows her to be especially creative (and even a bit outlandish) in presenting the attractive Alex and Bagoas' intimate relationship, even if all that perfection and vaguely described sex does get to be a bit grating by the end. We discussed the role of captives several times. Bagoas is essentially a slave to the Macedonian king. To survive, he adopts the strategy of most successful captives of subjugated peoples: He forgets the past and his former high position and concentrates on day-to-day concerns and marches forward, doing what he can to thrive under the current circumstances. By doing this, he leads a prosperous life with a very powerful man. The modern concept of "love" turns the story into a romance and even melodrama at times. But this "love" that Bagoas describes would have been a completely alien concept to the actual historical characters. "Romantic love" between men didn't exist (this concept is a much later creation of the middle ages as part of the "courtly love" tradition), and even Alexander marries to consolidate his holdings and bear an heir, rather than because he loves Roxane. Later, when Alexander selects brides (and even paying for dowries) for all his officers, everyone considers this a brilliant idea - love wasn't involved. Bagoas' love for Alex makes for a romantic novel, but probably not very accurate. Finally, Mary has given us a clever story in the form of a historical novel. It's full of research and actual events, packed with details of ancient life and travels. I liked it for the first 100+ pages, then got bogged down with the forgettable names, the long campaigns, the unclear places, the not-very-interesting court intrigues, and the ancient politics. Both Alexander and Bagoas are too perfect. By the time they get to the wars in India, I really didn't care very much and just plowed through to the end, which was very satisfying. Looking at the reviews on Amazon, an awful lot of guys consider this their favorite novel. I'm guessing that most of these readers have very fond memories of reading "The Persian Boy" when they didn't have many choices for positive gay characters, or even much gay literature from which to select. It was an early novel (1972) to have an openly gay character who isn't punished for his...

*Full review with quotes on Goodreads* Despite enjoying Fire from Heaven, I was reluctant to continue with The Persian Boy. I assumed it was written in a traditional, stilted, third-person account; like the former which took me almost a month to complete it. Many months later, upon realising that TPB was actually written in a first-person account, i.e. Bagoas, I picked it up immediately. And I was truly enraptured by the brilliance of it. Writing from Bagoas' perspective has its pros and cons. While it makes reading this a lot easier, I felt disengaged from it. I had wanted to witness Alexander's great conquests; like the Battle of Issos, Battle of Arbela, his Indian campaign, and a great many other which I couldn't remember because it was only mentioned in passing. After reading David Gemmell's Troy series and realising I quite dig the military tactics and battle strategies, I was hoping for that in TPB. What makes Alexander so great is him unconquered in battles and being one of the most successful commanders. I was disappointed that this significant aspect of his life was not the main focus in TPB. The romantic aspect of TPB was not what I had expected either. Written from Bagoas' perspective, the romantic feeling felt one-sided. And perhaps, it was just that. While we witness Bagoas undying love, loyalty, and devotion towards Alexander, we only caught glimpses of his affection towards Bagoas; sweet whisperings of nothing. It was inferred that Alexander 'was in love with giving, almost to folly'. That Bagoas was explicitly mentioned in sources as Alexander's eromenos simply puts him above the rest of his common men. But Hephaistion is in a class of his own. It was Alexander and Hephaistion's relationship I was craving for. The third-person account in Fire from Heaven hid no secrets that Hephaistion loved Alexander. And even if the love is, perhaps, unrequited, one could bear witness that the former did take up a large portion of his heart. Alexander did in fact went delirious shortly after Hephaistion's death; the exuberant funeral pyre, the public mourning, the attempt at raising Hephaistion to be a god. However, since this was in Bagoas' perspective, one could not witness the intense pain Alexander felt at the death of his beloved. Again, I was robbed off this. His determination to establish a Persianate society among ALL his people; adopting the elements of the Persian dress, the prostration, the massive dowries for the mass marriage of his Macedonian senior officers to Persian noblewomen, one could infer that Alexander has a strong attachment to Persia. To promulgate his desperate attempts at marrying these two cultures together, it is imperative that this aspect of his life be told from Bagoas' perspective. Conclusion: This is the third time I'm mentally sobbing in public over the death of my...