Venus's life story across 5,000 years reminds us not to trivialise the power of desire: the ancients were right to never underestimate… — Bettany Hughes Copy Share Image
As soon as men began to write, they made Helen of Troy their subject; for close on three thousand years she has… — Bettany Hughes Copy Share Image
Aphrodite-Venus had become not a subject of adoration, but an agent of exploitation. From the moment Christian society perceived sex not as… — Bettany Hughes Copy Share Image
Buttressed by an acceptance of female wisdom in the sacred sphere from the beginnings of organised religion 12,000 years ago to late… — Bettany Hughes Copy Share Image
Hapy, the ancient god of the Nile, depicted at Dendera with Cleopatra, is typically shown with breasts - symbolism that demonstrated how… — 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
