Abstract
This essay examines the representation of Alexandria in two novels of the fin-de-siècle: Anatole France's Thaïs and Pierre Louÿs's Aphrodite. In these novels, Alexandria is merely a mythical mirror which returns to Parisian decadentism its own image. The reader witnesses a shift between models: to the Roman and Athenian models of the young Third Republic, a 'Belle Epoque' model is substituted. This soon becomes evident in the importance given to the cynical amorality prevalent in both novels, the figures of the courtesans becoming allegories of Alexandria. Both novels, impregnated by culture and sensuality, offer the fascinating spectacle of a civilization coming to an end: a premonition that Spengler and Valéry will fully analyse after World War One.
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