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.
