Nefertiti is lovely, but we should use our wit and will to look beyond that beautiful face to discover and to enjoy a more satisfying narrative - the story of mankind, not just of man.
Bettany HughesRead
When she stepped out of that spumy sea Aphrodite was said to have brought fertility, flowers, life, light to a barren world. For centuries women and men went to her sanctuaries to seek her pity and protection. Her domain was originally not just lust, but lust for life.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the association of Aphrodite with life and fertility beyond just romantic desire.
In this quote, Bettany Hughes reflects on the historical and mythological significance of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, who emerged from the ocean to bring vibrancy and fertility to the world. This portrayal emphasizes her role not only in matters of lust and romantic love but also in the broader context of nurturing life and instilling a sense of vitality and hope in a barren existence. The sanctuaries and devotion dedicated to her signify the deep-rooted human longing for connection and abundance, illustrating how love, in its many forms, has been revered throughout history.
Themes
AphroditeLoveFertilityLifeNatureVitality
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about women's rights, one might use this quote to illustrate the importance of nurturing and celebrating feminine energy.
More from Bettany Hughes
All quotes →I cannot write about the past unless I go where history happened. Some make very good armchair historians, I'm not one of them. If you're going to inhabit someone else's world, the very least you can do is to spend a little time in it.
Bettany HughesRead
We think the way we do partly because Socrates thought the way he did. His basic idea - that the unexamined life is not worth living - is what it means to live in the modern world, to develop ideas and ask questions.
Bettany HughesRead
Of all the human figurines discovered so far from 30,000-3,000BC, 92% are of the female form. This is not to say there was any kind of matriarchy or worship of a mother goddess - far from it - but women are conspicuous by their presence.
Bettany HughesRead
Venus, ancient goddess of love and beauty, is an apparently irrelevant, invented deity of the long dead. But Venus merits scrutiny. Chart her life story across 5,000 years and you chart the evolution of our conflicted relationship with sex and with the female body.
Bettany HughesRead
Aphrodite-Venus had become not a subject of adoration, but an agent of exploitation. From the moment Christian society perceived sex not as a gift of the goddess but a crime against God himself, women were believed to be the vessels of love's malign power.
Bettany HughesRead
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