Venus and Aphrodite, A Biography of Desire by Bettany Hughes
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Web ID: 17693654Intriguing!
This is a nice introduction into the history of Aphrodite. Although it can be quite brief at times, I think this is a great book for anyone wishing to expand their knowledge of her, especially someone (like me), who only knew shallowly about her. I would have loved more descriptions of specific myths, but this book is more a comprehensive history of Aphrodite's origin story and how much she changed over time.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Well researched
Venus is a Roman Goddess and Aphrodite is a Greek Goddess. Why are they fascinating? Because they are goddesses of love, fornication and fertility! Bettany Hughes has done a meticulous research on the subject and it is well reflected in this book. The author’s knowledge about the subject is applaudable. It may not go pages and pages like other history books, but its concise on point + has pictures of ancient artefacts related to the subject. Anyone who is interested in subjects of mythology should read this. I wish there were more books like these about ancient deities and gods. Thank you Netgalley, Publisher and author for this ebook in-exchange for a review!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A little dive into Venus-Aphrodite story!
I was glad to find this book on NetGalley! I love mythology and discovering more about gods, goddesses, their history, what they become as time goes. Aphrodite's history is fascinating to read. Her duality is there almost from the beginning of her "life": she is both sweet, charming, loving and destructive, dark, a killer. She is both a love goddess and a war goddess in a way. She is beauty and contention, desire and lust. The reader learns a lot about Aphrodite-Venus's use in art, politics and History: she is portrayed in a certain way to deliver a certain message to the population - and, mostly to women. They get to see the evolution of her representation, of what she means. Her body is clothed in the beginning of her cult, then naked, then clearly exposed. She goes from an object of veneration to an object of desire and lust. She goes from goddess to woman of easy virtue, by way of the Virgin Mary when Christinity needed to shut down her cult, and so used her for their own. The book was well-organised: the reader is gradually guided through Aphrodite-Venus's history, and gets to see her thanks to illustrations. I loved that some of them were present in the book to support what was written. I also loved the conclusion: despite everything, despite patriarchy, despite sl**-shaming and all that, Aphrodite-Venus left a mark and is still part of our lives today. She might still be used to objectify women, but she is also used to empower them.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A Goddess through the ages
I received this book compliments of Basic Books and Netgalley. Today Venus is one of the most well known Roman deities and her Greek counterpart Aphrodite isn't far behind. This book examines the origins and transformations of goddesses of fertility and warfare from Inanna, Astarte and Ishtar in the Middle East to Aphrodite in Cyprus. Their many aspects were worshiped and over time some gained prominence over others. Although Aphrodite retains her connection to violence it is her sexuality that gains in importance. That is the characteristic that carries through as Aphrodite becomes Venus and travels through the Middle Ages to the present. Hughes presents a lot of information, but not always smoothly. The ancient history is more detailed and easier to follow, but from the Middle Ages on it became somewhat jumpy, with disconcerting gaps. Despite that there is plenty to learn here.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com