This lecture looks at a series of divine female figures in the ancient world from the Middle East to Western Europe: Inanna, Ishtar, Astarte, Aphrodite and Venus. What they have in common, is that to varying degrees they all combined the personae of deities of sexual love and of war.

It brings out the special characteristics of each, traces the relationships between them, and shows how each in the sequence, influenced the development of the next.

This lecture was recorded by Professor Ronald Hutton on 20 September 2023 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London

Ronald is Gresham Professor of Divinity.

He is also Professor of History at the University of Bristol.

https://www.gresham.ac.uk/speakers/pr...

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watchnow/a...

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