"Oh, I’ve got all the Shades...I can take some guilty pleasure and just read," Oprah Winfrey told Harper's Bazaar about bestselling erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey. "But I’m thinking, 'Stop with the story, get to the juicy part!'"
The entertainment mogul isn't the only one with sexy fiction on her mind. Despite taking bookshelves -- and soon movie theaters -- by storm, Fifty Shades of Grey is hardly the first, or last, literature of its kind. Thank goodness.
Defined as "works of art or literature that deal with sex and are meant to cause sexual feelings" by Merriam-Webster, erotica's history dates all the way back to antiquity. The ancient Greek lyricist, Sappho, who inspired the term "lesbian" wrote erotic poems. Even Shakespeare wrote an erotic version of Venus and Adonis in the 16th century before Romeo and Juliet hit the scene.
In the past century, erotic writings faced censorship, or at least were considered highly controversial. But these days, erotica has been popularized in big thanks to fan fiction outlets, which have a strong online presence.
In 2012 half of Amazon's top-selling books were of a romantic nature. As for No. 1 -- congrats, E. L. James.
We compiled a list of significant works in erotica literature -- because there is life outside of Fifty Shades of Grey.
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