Bettany Hughes gives an intriguing introduction to the Roman goddess Venus.

In her 2005 debut Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore, Bettany Hughes traced almost three millennia of changing attitudes to women as reflected in the face that launched a thousand ships.

Now she turns her attention to the Roman goddess Venus, looking at her relationship to her Greek twin Aphrodite, as well as Cypriot spirits of fertility and even the war goddess Ishtar.

Through ancient art, myth, philosophy and more, Professor Hughes demonstrates why this immortal goddess has endured to the 21st century.

In this captivating event, she tells the tale of one of antiquity’s most potent deities, and with it, the story of human desire itself.