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Venus and Aphrodite: A Biography of Desire Spiral-Bound | September 22, 2020

Bettany Hughes

★★★☆☆+ from 1,001 to 10,000 ratings

$28.28 - Free Shipping
A cultural history of the goddess of love, from a New York Times bestselling 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 lifestory 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.

Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Original Binding: Hardcover
Pages: 208 pages
ISBN-10: 1541674235
Item Weight: 0.7 lbs
Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
Customer Reviews: 3 out of 5 stars 1,001 to 10,000 ratings
“Bettany Hughes is out to convince you that the face of Venus familiar to us today—simultaneously salacious and saccharine—conceals a much darker and more complex character… Ms. Hughes’s book packs real punch, particularly when she turns to the ways in which this ferocious goddess has been domesticated.”—Wall Street Journal
Bettany Hughes is an award-winning historian, author, and broadcaster. She is currently professor of history at the New College of the Humanities and a research fellow of King's College, London. She is the author of three popular books, including the New York Times-bestselling The Hemlock Cup. She lives in London.