Venus and Aphrodite cover art

Venus and Aphrodite

History of a Goddess

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Venus and Aphrodite

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

Through ancient art, evocative myth, exciting archaeological revelations and philosophical explorations Bettany Hughes shows why this immortal goddess endures through to the twenty-first century, and what her journey through time reveals about what matters to us as humans.

Charting Venus's origins in powerful ancient deities, Bettany demonstrates that Venus is far more complex than first meets the eye. Beginning in Cyprus, the goddess's mythical birthplace, Bettany decodes Venus's relationship to the Greek goddess Aphrodite, and, in turn, Aphrodite's mixed-up origins both as a Cypriot spirit of fertility and procreation - but also, as a descendant of the prehistoric war goddesses of the Near and Middle East, Ishtar, Inanna and Astarte. On a voyage of discovery to reveal the truth behind Venus, Hughes reveals how this mythological figure is so much more than nudity, romance and sex. It is the both the remarkable story of one of antiquity's most potent forces, and the story of human desire - how it transforms who we are and how we behave.

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©2019 Bettany Hughes (P)2019 Orion Publishing Group Ancient Religious Studies Ancient History

Critic Reviews

Erudition, with an erotic frisson ... 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 (Laura Freeman)
An intriguing tale that tracks the gorgeous and omnipresent Venus of western civilisation back 6,000 years ... engrossing (Charlotte Hobson)
A marvellous biography of a goddess that delves beneath her passive modern image ... Hughes's account of Aphrodite's early evolution forms the most fascinating sections of this superb book (Catherine Nixey)

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amazing

once again Bettany shows us a little magic in the mundane, i find her insight enjoyable regardless of the subject

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Valuable information to an Exorcist

As an exorcist this book was awesome, well researched, informative and confirms so much of what I have experienced in what I do. Thank you. This book ls thought provoking. Thank you.

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