O Garoto Persa (Trilogia de Alexandre o Grande #2)

(first published 1972) - Romance da crônica de Bagoas, o mais famoso eunuco da História. Ele chegou a servir a Alexandre, o Grande -- "Bagoas é a única pessoa explicitamente mencionada nas fontes antigas como eromenos (ἐρώμενος) de Alexandre III da Macedônia. Ele aparece inicialmente em Cúrcio: "Nabarzanes, tendo recebido um salvo-conduto, encontrou-se com ele (Alexandre) trazendo grandes presentes. Entre eles estava Bagoas, um eunuco de notável beleza e em plena flor da juventude, que fora amado por Dario, e seria depois amado por Alexandre (...) Bagoas não somente gozava da grande afeição de Alexandre, mas evidentemente era bem estimado até pelas xenófobas tropas macedônias, por si mesmo surpreendentes. Alexandre sempre pagava com lealdade eterna uma devoção pessoal e isso parece a mais a provável explicação para esta ligação tão longa. A origem do jovem eunuco é ignorada; mas a conjectura de que era de nascimento nobre não é pura fantasia. Os meninos, cuja aparência era bem cuidada e não estragada pela desnutrição ou provação, uma vez escravizados, corriam sempre o risco da prostituição. O discípulo de Sócrates, Fédon, é o caso mais conhecido". [Do blog Flor Amarela: O Garoto Persa]

|...| 'The Persian Boy [ISBN: 0394481917] is a '72 historical novel written by Mary Renault, narrated by Bagoas, a young Persian aristocrat who's captured by his father's enemies, castrated & sold as a slave to Darius III, who makes him his favorite. Eventually he becomes the lover & most faithful servant of Alexander, who overthrew Darius, capturing the Empire. Bagoas' narration provides a Persian view of the conquest & an intimate look at the personality of the conqueror. Like much of Renault's fiction, the book provides a sympathetic portrait of homosexual love. It's notable for its depiction of the tradition of pederasty in Greece, where relationships between adult men & adolescent boys were celebrated. Bagoas is aged 15 when he begins his relationship with Alexander, then 26. Renault depicts the attachment as lasting until Alexander's death, when Bagoas was about 22. The book describes the major incidents of Alexander's later career, such as abortive invasions of present-day Afghanistan & India, his marriage to Roxane, his crossing of the Gedrosian Desert, Hephaistion's death & his own final illness & death. Bagoas was a historical figure, identified by the Roman Curtius as "a eunuch exceptional in beauty & in the very flower of boyhood, with whom Darius was intimate & with whom Alexander would later be intimate." Plutarch described Alexander's troops, seeing their leader sitting with the boy, as "clapping their hands & shouting till Alexander put his arms round him & kissed him." From these & a few other fragments, Renault creates an imaginative portrait of a lover & confidant to Alexander. Reviewing The Persian Boy, historian Jeanne Reames wrote: "That Alexander may have been attracted to a eunuch is possible enough, & there is certainly testimony that he kept Bagoas with him at least some of the time. But there is no evidence that Bagoas was as important to, much less as influential over, Alexander as Renault paints. She gives to Bagoas a role which history suggests was filled by Hephaistion." She also points out that historical sources name Bagoas, not Hephaistion, as eromenos (beloved) to Alexander. Curtius' history presents Bagoas as a vindictive schemer who revenges himself on a Persian noble named Orsines who failed to give him gifts by lying to Alexander about him, eventually succeeding in having him tried & executed. Renault, who accuses Curtius of "muddled sensationalism" in a note, points to other sources suggesting that "Orxines" was in fact a "murderous" character, portraying him as deserving his fate. Curtius' claim that Orsines didn't plunder the royal tombs but that they were devoid of riches in the 1st place is an absurd one, as Renault points out, unacceptable in light of what's known of Persian culture. Renault also notes that the incident in which the army clamored for Alexander to kiss Bagoas took place soon after the crossing of the Gedrosian desert, when all present were survivors of the harrowing incident. She argues that Bagoas must have earned the admiration & affection of the army by his courage, fortitude & help to others, during the desert crossing'.'

Crônicas / Aventura / Drama / Romance / Literatura Estrangeira / História