The Epicurean was the only prose novel by Thomas Moore, written under the influence of Byron. The book was quite popular as it responded to the demand for semi-erotic romance. The book tells the story of Alciphron, the leader of the Epicurean sect in Athens in the 3rd century AD, who made a journey to Egypt seeking the secret of immortality. The author says that the book is described as a translation of an ancient, "curious Greek manuscript" found in the Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great in Egypt around 1800.