Mary Renault
The Persian Boy Fire from Heaven
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Fire from Heaven
Mary Renault Fire from Heaven is the first of three historical fictions regarding Alexander and written by Ms Renault. The book paints a troubled family in the early stages of Macedonian imperialism. Alexander’s father is brilliant, if somewhat uncharismatic, leader of this important movement in classical Greek history. Alexander grows up under the shadow of his wildly successful father, and Ms Renault devotes a majority of writing to the relationship between these two.Along the way, Alexander is introduced to a number of people that become pivotal in later life, and this is the strong point of the book. His mother Olympias, Ptolomy, Hephaistion, Aristotle, and Demosthenes, and Philip’s murder Pausanias all make impressions on him as a young man. Ms Renault develops the relationship between Alexander and Hephaistion in a way that makes you really understand the bond between these like-long lovers. She also explores her theories on the court intrigue instigated by Olympias and her supporters.
There are numerous humorous antidotes (some that are supported by history and some that are more speculative) that illustrate Alexander’s early cunning and political understanding. Notably, his meeting as a young man with the Athenian orator Demosthenes, who would become the archenemy of both Philip and Alexander.
As the story progresses, the tension builds to a climax. Philip has just secured his Greek stronghold, and in the name of Panhellenism sends an advance force into Asia Minor. Philip’s new wife (he had renounced Olympias and began to spread rumors that Alexander was illegitimate) has just produced a son and Philip has hinted at making the new arrival his successor and heir. And to round things out, Philip marries-off his daughter (by Olympias – Alexander’s sister) to Olympias’ brother, perhaps in an effort to appease the brother after he liquidates Olympias.
Then, at the wedding, young Pausanias kills the king and is, in turn, killed by a band of pursuing youths (who as it happens, were close friends of Alexander.) Alexander is quickly installed as the new King of Macedonia and the Greek Hegemon.
From a historical position, there are several things that I dislike about this novel. Ms Renault is ruthless in her treatment of Philip. He is portrayed as somewhat of a grotesque figure, when in reality, he was quite charismatic. Indeed, he was a brilliant tactician and statesmen. He also was quite intelligent. In all likely hood he and Olympias probably had a fairly common marriage and most likely got along quite well with each other until his production of another heir and his quarrels with Alexander. For a more realistic portrait of court life in Pellea during Philip’s reign, I suggest reading Peter Green’s “Alexander of Macedon”.
Nevertheless, we know very little about Alexander’s early life and Ms Renault has done a brilliant job of filling in the gaps with extremely plausible theories. And while she often glosses over Alexander’s flaws and more often than not his less than benevolent motivations – making him a romantic hero, the reader must understand that this is a romantic novel and not a history text. Certainly in that vane, Alexander is a romantic hero and his relationship with Hephaistion is almost magical.
I have heard from many people who read The Persian Boy felt so sad for Hephaistion because of Alexander’s new interest in the eunuch Bagoas, and after reading Fire from Heaven it is not hard to see why. If the nature of Alexander’s and Hephaistion’s relationship is anything like the description it is given by Ms Renault (and there are plenty of reasons to think it was) it must have been truly heart breaking for poor Hephaistion.
I strongly suggest everyone read this book. If nothing else, it will give the reader a sense of what life (and specifically Alexander) was like in the Classical Era.
Related Titles
- The Persian Boy «««
Mary Renault- Funeral Games «««
Mary Renault- The Mask of Apollo
Mary Renault- The Nature of Alexander
Mary Renault- In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great : A Journey from Greece to Asia «««
Michael Wood
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My Synopsis
My Notes
Related Titles
Purchase this Item
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The Persian Boy
Mary Renault This, the middle book of Alexander the Great's life as fictionalized by Mary Renault, is another classic example of excellent historical fiction. The story follows the life of Bagoas, a Persian boy who witnesses the murder of his family in a bitter fight for the throne of Persia. Through a twist of fate, the young Bagoas finds himself a slave/servant in the service of the winner of the dispute, Darius. For a number of years Bagoas served the needs of his king, but news was starting to trickle into the palace about a wild Macedonian king, Alexander.Soon, Darius is on the run from the invader. When the Persian nobility see no way out, they kill Darius and offer Bagoas to Alexander as a jester of peace. Bagoas becomes the Macedonian King's lover and friendship (perhaps a love) develops between the two.
Mary Renault gives gripping acounts of the major events in Alexander's life and campaign through the wilds of Persia and India. That it is told from the point-of-view of Alexander's lover enhances the feeling of intematicy shared between the characters and the reader.
The Persian Boy picks-up the story shortly after Alexander heads to Egypt. Darius III has just acceded the throne as the Great King and his court is in upheaval. Although history has not been very kind to Darius III, he was the first Great King in quite a while that was capable of managing the Persian Empire. His first act was to liquidate the manipulative Grand Visor, Bagoas. (Not to be confused with Bagoas the narrator of the story – though both, as it turns out were eunuchs.) He had unfortunately inherited a very dilapidated and top-heavy kingdom. There was open revolt in many of the Satraps and Alexander had skillfully bought the alliance of number of highly positioned Persians. Alexander was now on truly Persian soil. (Asia Minor had changed hands frequently, and was used often as a bargaining chip in Greko-Persian political dealings. Before Phillip and Alexander had captured them, the Asian city-states in that region were in Persian hands; nevertheless, they had no real roots with Babylon or Susa.)
It is on this canvas, that Ms Renault introduces us to Bagoas, a young boy that was captured as a slave in the recent wars of accession in the Persian Empire. Bagoas was sold as a eunuch to Darius’ court where he became a pleasure-thing for the Great King. This was quite common during this stage of the Persian Empire. Surviving texts (Macedonian, Greek and Persian) allude to Bagoas as being exceptionally beautiful and (at the time of his arrival in Alexander’s company) an “absolute flower of youth.” Most likely, Bagoas was about 15-16 years old when Alexander’s army accepted a peace terms with some remaining Persian leaders. (Darius had been killed by his own men, and the leadership of the country was split. Darius’ murders fled east while the peace party attempted to come to terms with Alexander.)
Of course we know very little about the actual relationship between Alexander and Bagoas, but we do know that he was given as a gift by the Persians. We also know that years later he was listed as part of the company that arrived in Babylon when Alexander returned from India – shortly before Alexander’s death. Various records also indicate that he instructed Alexander in Persian customs, and most likely this was his major roll in Alexander’s court. Nevertheless, Ms Renault has made a compelling case that he and Alexander were lovers, at least to an extent. Using what we know of Alexander, Hephaistion, and the customs and practices of the day, this is entirely possible.
For those who have read Fire from Heaven, the book does not do justice to the relationship between Alexander and Hephaistion, but rather, focuses on Bagoas. This is not distracting, however, since Bagoas is narrating the story and would not know many details of couple’s past. One fault that I do find in Ms Renault’s work, is her treatment of Alexander as a romantic hero, often completely glossing over some of his “not-so-honourable” acts. Again, this is a work of fiction, dramatizing the actual facts as we know them, so I suppose this is not too upsetting.
As for Alexander’s homosexuality, we know quite a bit. None of the ancient sources (Arrian, Diodorus, Plutarch, and Rufus) actually spell-out his sexuality plainly, but there is overwhelming evidence from his behaviour and that of his contemporaries that suggests Alexander enjoyed the company of men. But to label him a homosexual is quite another thing. Clearly, men had sex with other men often during this time period. Reading Plato, Socrates, or Aristotle it would be hard to imagine why any attachment of shame would be made for such actions. Further, we know for a fact that Philip (Alexander’s father) frequently had very public affairs with young men and boys. In deed, it was one of his jaded ex-lovers that actually plunged the knife into Philip’s ribs and killed the king. (Though, most likely not because of the affair, but at least in part due to injustices he suffered at the hands of Philip. The young man, Pausanias, had been severally beaten and raped en-masse by a friend of the king and his cronies. When Pausanias went to Philip and formally charged the man, Philip dismissed the case. Pausanias maintained a grudge for several years before killing the king. Most likely, he was inspired to do so by Alexander or his mother, Olympias.)
In any case, Alexander made frequent public gestures of love (or eros) in regards to Hephaistion. In addition, we have some direct evidence that the Athenians though Alexander preferred male sexual companions since they offered him (at least one) young men as entertainment on the occasion of his visit to Athens. We also know that he publicly exulted the heroes Achilles and Patroclus, who at the time, were generally though to be sexual lovers. When he visited their tombs, he laid a wreath and made sacrifice to Achilles at his tomb while Hephaistion did the same at the tomb of Patroclus. We also know that Alexander’s parents were concerned, when in his teens, he seemed too attached to Hephaistion. Philip was afraid that Alexander would become too feminine and set-out to “harden” the boy. All of this said, Alexander did marry several times and sired at least one child, Alexander IV. But, like his father, he knew the importance of an heir to his empire. And, each of his marriages was clearly politically motivated. He generally never saw his wives again after the marriage festivities. (With the exception of Roxanne who bore Alexander IV. She was installed at Alexander’s court, but seldom did the two ever actually meet.)
Related Titles
- Fire from Heaven «««
Mary Renault- Funeral Games
Mary Renault- The Mask of Apollo
Mary Renault- The Nature of Alexander
Mary Renault- In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great : A Journey from Greece to Asia «««
Michael WoodReturn to Top
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