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Venus and Aphrodite

A Biography of Desire

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Venus and Aphrodite

By: Bettany Hughes
Narrated by: Bettany Hughes
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About this listen

A cultural history of the goddess of love, from a New York Times best-selling and award-winning historian.

Aphrodite was said to have been born from the sea, rising out of a froth of white foam. But long before the Ancient Greeks conceived of this voluptuous blonde, she existed as an early spirit of fertility on the shores of Cyprus - and thousands of years before that, as a ferocious warrior-goddess in the Middle East. Proving that this fabled figure is so much more than an avatar of commercialized romance, historian Bettany Hughes reveals the remarkable life story of one of antiquity's most potent myths.

Venus and Aphrodite brings together ancient art, mythology, and archaeological revelations to tell the story of human desire. From Mesopotamia to modern-day London, from Botticelli to Beyoncé, Hughes explains why this immortal goddess continues to entrance us today - and how we trivialize her power at our peril.

©2020 Bettany Hughes (P)2020 Basic Books Ancient Customs & Traditions Europe Greece Social Sciences Women Ancient History Ancient Greece Greek Mythology

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Critic reviews

"Informative and entertaining." (Publishers Weekly)

"In this lively, wide-ranging book, Hughes paints a portrait of a darker Venus, a violent, vengeful 'shape-shifting' Venus, with salt in her hair and surf at her feet." (The Times)

"An intriguing tale that tracks the gorgeous and omnipresent Venus of western civilisation back 6,000 years...engrossing." (The Spectator)

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Profile Image for Liz

Fabulous

Very enjoyable - interesting, pithy and short. A lovely injection of art history and light feminism for an afternoon. Will be reading much more of Bettany Hughes work

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