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Venus and Aphrodite: A Biography of Desire

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Bettany Hughes
Bettany Hughes

Bettany Hughes is a distinguished historian specializing in classical history and culture. Born in 1968, she has made substantial contributions to the understanding of ancient civilizations and their legacies. Hughes has authored several books and has appeared in numerous documentaries, making history accessible and engaging to a wide audience. more

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“Pure as th’expanse of heav’n; I thither went With unexperienced thought, and laid me down On the green bank, to look into the clear Smooth lake, that to me seemed another sky. As I bent down to look, just opposite, A shape within the wat’ry gleam appeared Bending to look on me, I started back, It started back, but pleased I soon returned, Pleased it returned as soon with answering looks Of sympathy and love; there I had fixed Mine eyes till now and pined with vain desire, Had not a voice thus warned me-”

DesireBeautyVanityEveParadise LostThe Fall
Author:John Milton
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“Then one day, stead of her going in alone, we both went in, and after she came out of the hospital, we cut for the beach. They gave her a yellow suit and a red cap, and when she came out I didn’t know her at first. She looked like a little girl. It was the first time I ever really saw how young she was. We played in the sand, and then we went way out and let the swells rock us. I like my head to the waves, she liked her feet. We lay there, face to face, and held hands under water. I looked up at the sky. It was all you could see. I thought about God.”

LoveGodDesire
Book:The Postman Always Rings Twice
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“That’s right," It was Jace. Clary saw him, at the blurred edge of her vision, as he moved toward her and put a hand on her shoulder, turning her to face him. "It's just a kiss," he said, and though his tone was harsh, his hands were inexplicably gentle. She let him turn her, looked up at him. His eyes were very dark, perhaps because it was so dim down here in the Court, perhaps because of something else. She could see her reflection in each of his dialted pupils, a tiny image of herself inside his eyes. He said, “You can close your eyes and think of England, if you like." "I've never even been to England," she said, but she shut her eyelids. She could feel the dark heaviness of her clothes, cold and itchy against her skin, and the cloying sweet air of the cave, colder yet, and the weight of Jace's hands on her shoulders, the only things that were warm. And then he kissed her. She felt the brush of his lips, light at first, and her own opened automatically beneath the pressure. Almost against her will she felt herself go fluid and pliant, stretching upward to twine her arms around his neck the way that a sunflower twists toward light. His arms slid around her, his hands knotting in her hair, and the kiss stopped being gentle and became fierce, all in a single moment like tinder flaring into a blaze. Clary heard a sound like a sigh rush through the Court, all around them, a wave of noise, but it meant nothing, was lost in the rush of her blood through her veins, the dizzying sense of weightlessness in her body. Jace's hands moved from her hair, slid down her spine; she felt the hard press of his palms against her shoulder blades--and then he pulled away, gently disengaging himself, drawing her hands away from his neck and stepping back. For a moment Clary thought she might fall; she felt as if something essential had been torn away from her, an arm or a leg, and she stared at Jace in blank astonishment--what did he feel, did he feel nothing? She didn't think she could bear it if he felt nothing. He looked back at her, and when she saw the look on his face, she saw his eyes at Renwick's, when he had watched the Portal that separated him from his home shatter into a thousand irretrievable pieces. He held her gaze for a split second, then looked away from her, the muscles in his throat working. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides. "Was that good enough?" he called, turning to face the Queen and the courtiers behind her. "Did that entertain you?" The Queen had a hand across her mouth, half-covering a smile. "We are quite entertained," she said. "But not, I think, so much as the both of you." "I can only assume," said Jace, "that mortal emotions amuse you because you have none of your own." The smile slipped from her mouth at that.”

DesireKissJaceClaryThe Seelie Court
Book:City of Ashes
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