Venus's life story across 5,000 years reminds us not to trivialise the power of desire: the ancients were right to never underestimate its influence. — Bettany Hughes Copy Share Image
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… — Bettany Hughes Copy Share Image
After I graduated, I carried on with my academic work, via grants but I often had a market stall on Camden Market selling hand-painted… — Bettany Hughes Copy Share Image
I think it's ironic when Plato makes the learned woman Aspasia Socrates' teacher, but I think women crop up more in the Platonic dialogues… — Bettany Hughes Copy Share Image
Even the picturesque prehistoric settlements at Akrotiri on the Greek island of Santorini were an exercise in problem-solving; white-washed homes and town halls built… — Bettany Hughes Copy Share Image
For the Spartans, it wasn’t walls or magnificent public buildings that made a city; it was their own ideals. In essence, Sparta was a… — Bettany Hughes Copy Share Image
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… — Bettany Hughes Copy Share Image
I think Socrates was fascinated by Alcibiades. It's almost the opposite of hypocrisy. I think it's like when you can see the potential in… — Bettany Hughes Copy Share Image
Sophia - a mystical female presence whose appearance is only fleeting in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament - was clearly once a household… — Bettany Hughes Copy Share Image
Ancient Egyptian women had rights under the law. They could own land. Many were literate. — Bettany Hughes Copy Share Image
The word 'America' probably didn't appear in the Persian language until the end of the 18th century - but then with a documented past… — Bettany Hughes Copy Share Image
History was invented as a tool, an engineered road down which human society could advance. — Bettany Hughes Copy Share Image
“Herodotus, the ‘Father of History’, records the moment – and you can hear the emotion in his voice as he does so, a mixture… — Bettany Hughes Copy Share Image
