Love's Jeweled Fetter (detail), by Lawrence Alam-Tadema [1895] (Public Domain Image)

Aphrodite by Pierre Louys [1937]

On the heels of Bilitis, Pierre Louys published his first novel, Aphrodite (Mœurs Antiques) in 1896. It was a bestseller, selling 350,000 copies, sealing Louys' reputation as a popular author of erotic literature.

Set in Ptolemaic Alexandria, at a much later date than Bilitis, Aphrodite is as much a love story as a crime story. Louys' decadent, sensual vision of Egypt in classical times is a jeweled setting for a story of transgressive love. The sculptor Demetrios, the favorite of Queen Berenice, falls for a well-to-do courtesan, Chrysis. Much of the story is set in the world of the courtesans, a realm of beauty, luxury, sapphic indulgence, and some dark shadows as well.

PRODUCTION NOTES: There were at least three English translations of this work published prior to 1963; of these, this was the only one which had an expired copyright.

Book One

Book Two

Book Three

Book Four

Book Five