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A review by alrautio
Venus and Aphrodite: A Biography of Desire by Bettany Hughes
4.0
First of all, for my purposes, this was everything it needed to be. Other reviewers mentioned there are places in this book that are superficial and don't go as in-depth as they reasonably could have, but I think this book is a great introduction to the overall history of the goddess in all her forms. I think it depends on what you are looking to do with this book, but for introduction to Aphrodite, it does a very good job of providing broad-strokes beyond the average myth you learned in class.
If there are areas you find are lacking, I think it's a good indicator of where personal interest lies and provides a direction for your own further research, which is honestly more helpful than being spoon-fed information anyways. I enjoyed how short it was; usually, historical/reference books are long, dry, and boring, but this was short, sweet, and left you wanting a bit more, which is not a bad thing in my books.
I personally did not care much for the second half because it was looking at how Aphrodite has been adapted into a modern persona. I live in this era, and I see how she is applied in a modern persona; that's not really new information to me, but looking at Aphrodite's origins prior to Greece--now that's some interesting stuff.
If there are areas you find are lacking, I think it's a good indicator of where personal interest lies and provides a direction for your own further research, which is honestly more helpful than being spoon-fed information anyways. I enjoyed how short it was; usually, historical/reference books are long, dry, and boring, but this was short, sweet, and left you wanting a bit more, which is not a bad thing in my books.
I personally did not care much for the second half because it was looking at how Aphrodite has been adapted into a modern persona. I live in this era, and I see how she is applied in a modern persona; that's not really new information to me, but looking at Aphrodite's origins prior to Greece--now that's some interesting stuff.