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.
![Love's Jeweled Fetter (detail), by Lawrence Alam-Tadema [1895] (Public Domain Image)](img/jewel.jpg)