Venus and Aphrodite

History of a Goddess

Preview

Failed to add items

Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.

Add to basket failed.

Please try again later

Add to wishlist failed.

Please try again later

Remove from wishlist failed.

Please try again later

Adding to library failed

Please try again

Follow podcast failed

Unfollow podcast failed

Try Premium Plus free

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.

Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.

Access exclusive sales and deals.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Venus and Aphrodite

By: Bettany Hughes

Narrated by: Bettany Hughes

Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £7.99

No valid payment method on file.

Add payment method

Switch payment method

We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method

Switch payment method

Pay using card ending in

Switch payment method

By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Cancel

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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio on our desktop site.

Ancient

Religious Studies

Ancient History

Listeners also enjoyed...

Mythology: Strange and Exciting Legends from Around the World cover art

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)

Most relevant

I love this book..perfect....The performance is both exciting and soothing, the content fascinating and enlightening.

Such a great book and performance