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In the UK sitcom Red Dwarf, one of the characters (Rimmer) claims to have been Alexander the Great's chief eunuch in a previous incarnation. Does anyone know if Alexander had a chief eunuch in his court? Or employed any other eunuchs as ministers, servants, etc.? I would be very grateful if someone could help as several very small bets (and large amounts of machismo) all depend on this information.

I suppose Red Dwarf refers to the character Bagoas. Bagoas was a Persian eunuch and became part of the household of Alexander in late 330 BC, after the death of Darius. Darius was murdered by Bessus, Barsaentes and Nabarzanes - some of his foremost commanders. Bagoas 'charmed' Alexander to pardon Nabarzanes. Both Bessus and Barsaentes were eventually *punished* by Alexander for their crime, Nabarzanes was spared.Especially in modern fiction (Renault, but also Dutch author Louis Couperus) Bagoas has become the prime example of Alexander's erotic (or homo-erotic) preferences.It is however, not quite clear if the character of Bagoas was real or invented by our ancient sources.There was another, different eunuch called Bagoas, nicknamed "the Kingmaker". He murdered Persian King Artaxerxes III and helped Arses (Artaxerxes IV) to the throne. Then he killed Arses and put Darius III on the throne. Darius however murdered this cunning eunuch right after his acsession.Regards -
Nick

Thanks for that Nick. Though I don't think the writers of Red Dwarf did any actual research, it's just a good comic line- 'In a previous life I was Alexander the Great...' builds an expectation then '...'s Chief Eunuch'collapses it.
Thanks again
Richard

I'm re-reading "The Persian Boy" by Mary
Renault, told from the POV of Boages the
eunuch. It's a wonderful and sad novel....if you're
a guy and you can read past the scene where
the little boy has his testicles cut off...you'lll find
that it's a great read.
There's a lot of great moments when it
describes how the eunuch tends to Alexander's
wounds, how he loves and admires the
king....it's some of the best writing I've ever read
the way Renault captures the compassion and
humilty of the eunuch and the love he holds for
Alexander....a great novel