This volume deals with the enduring presence of one of Western culture's most fascinating and influential figures in ancient, modern, and postmodern art and literature: Venus/Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty, and sexuality. The collection, which is the first of its kind, seeks to explore Venus's significance as a figure of beauty and creativity across cultures and disciplines, engaging a range of media, theoretical approaches, and cultural perspectives. Thirteen international scholars—including Elisabeth Bronfen, Tom Conley, Laurence Rickels, and Barbara Vinken—illuminate Venus's lasting value as a multifaceted figure of the creative in Western culture, from Lucretius to Michel Serres.

The Muse has long been figured as a divine or erotically alluring consort to the virile male artist, who may inspire him or lead him to the edge of madness. This book explores the changing cultural expressions of the relationship between the male artist with a beloved, imagined or desired Muse, to offer new and penetrating perspectives on musical representations and transformations of creative masculine subjectivity, and important aspects of the shift from the styles and aesthetics of Romantic Idealism to Modernist Anxiety in music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Each of the chapters begins with explorations into male artists' relationships with their Muse, and moves to analysis and interpretation which uncovers cultural constructions of masculine artistic inspiration and production, and their association with creatively inspiring and erotically charged relationships with a Muse. New insights are offered into the musical meaning and cultural significance of selected works by Rossini, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Wagner, Sibelius, Mahler, Bartók, Scriabin, Szymanowski, Debussy, Berg, Poulenc and Weill.

The Metamorphoses, written by the Roman poet Ovid, has fascinated readers ever since it was written in the first century CE, and here Celia M. Campbell offers a bold new interpretive approach. Reasserting the significance of the ancient hymnic tradition, she argues that the first pentad of Ovid's Metamorphoses draws a programmatic strain of influence from hymns to the gods, in particular conversation--and competition--with the work of the Alexandrian poet Callimachus, a favored source of inspiration to Augustan writers. She suggests that Ovid read Callimachus' six hymns as a self-conscious set--and reading the first five books of the Metamorphoses through Callimachus' hymnic collection allows us to pierce the occasionally opaque and seemingly idiosyncratic mythology Ovid constructs. Through careful, innovative close readings, Campbell illustrates that Callimachus and the hymnic tradition provide a kind of interpretative key to unlocking the dynamic landscape of divine power in Ovid's poetic cosmos.

MORE THAN SKIN DEEP Social, emotional, psychological and commercial constructs impinge on the exotic dance club. Read musings, essays, analysis, viewpoints, and opinions of both entertainers and a 'regular'. intimate encounters with Venus, as found in exotic dance venues. The mix: fantasy, emotion, sexuality, desire, money, roles, reality...... One man's journey into the exotic dance world. Read about the emotions flowing from the warm embrace of Venus, feelings of intimacy and passion, as well as the sadness of the inevitable downfall of fantasy fueled relationships. George leaves a trail of romantic and evocative letters to his various muses. These specially gifted women of dance share their warmth, energy and passions with bursts of joyous sexuality thereby weaving the fabric for this story. Not satisfied with mere sexual fantasies, George was most curious. Just what was going on at a psychological and emotional level? Who were these women of dance and why are regulars often dumped? With keen analysis and interesting observations, GA addresses these questions. See if you can say, ' By George, he's got it'

PIERIDES III, Editors: Myrto Garani and David Konstan Despite the Romans' reputation for being disdainful of abstract speculation, Latin poetry from its very beginning was deeply permeated by Greek philosophy. Philosophical elements and commonplaces have been identified and appreciated in a wide range of writers, but the extent of the Greek philosophical influence, and in particular the impact of Pythagorean, Empedoclean, Epicurean and Stoic doctrines, on Latin verse has never been fully in...

If you've ever wanted to know the "correct" words to "Roll Me Over," or wondered where the melody of "Sweet Betsy from Pike" came from, this book can answer your questions. Extensively revised and including forty more songs than its predecessor, this new edition of The Erotic Muse is a unique scholarly collection of bawdy or forbidden American folksongs. Ed Cray presents the full texts of some 125 songs, with melodies for most of them and detailed annotations for all. His lively commentary places the songs in historical, social, and, where appropriate, psychological context.

Use the wisdom of your Venus sign to create, laugh, and love with irresistible confidence. For millennia, Venus sauntered through the history books with unrivaled self-possession and sexual self-confidence. Yet many women today long for connection with the very aspects of their inner selves that Venus represents: pleasure, joy, self-worth, sexual vitality, and eroticism. In Venus Signs, Jessica Shepherd breathes life back into the Goddess. Whether you're recovering from heartbreak or could use a jolt of joy, beauty, and truth about who you truly are, Venus power will help you get in touch with your innermost desires and your sensual self. Discover the must-have qualities of your soulmate, how to keep a long-term relationship happily humming along, how to align with your own feminine energy, and how to draw your deepest heart's desires toward you. Use the tools in this book to gain insights into your significant other and support your friends and loved ones. Praise: "[A]n ideal entry point for those looking to delve a litte deeper into astrology beyond Sun-Signs."—Dell Horoscope "Jessica Shepherd has done it again. I heartily recommend Venus Signs to anyone who loves astrology—or, simply, to anyone who loves at all."—Steven Forrest, author of The Inner Sky, Yesterday's Sky and The Book of the Moon "Jessica left me feeling known, understood, appreciated and loved, just what you'd expect to find in a real cosmic caress from Venus herself. This is the ultimate self-worth booster. Loved it!"—Neil D. Paris, author of Surfing Your Solar Cycles: A Lifetime Guide to Your Stars "Venus Signs will get you in touch with what generates and sustains your pleasure and happiness, both in lifestyle and in relationships. By defining the influence of Venus through the looking glass of the Zodiac, Jessica sheds light on how the essential qualities of love and attraction are best fulfilled within us and within those whom we love and treasure."—Annie Bones, author of Celestial Forecaster "In the context of astrology, Jessica encourages us to embrace our "inner Venus," according to our sign, bringing forth the sensual feminine, artistic vixen, relationship artist that swirls inside, waiting."—Cyndi Dale, author of The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy "Jessica has a gift for weaving together many intricate details into a powerful archetypal synthesis that is accessible and deep."—Sherene Vismaya Schostak, author of Surviving Saturn Return "Reading about yourself in a good Venus book (something even seasoned astrologers love to do) should feel both pleasurable and startling—as though the author had been reading the diary of your secret thoughts. Jessica Shepherd has such a gift, seeming to know from the inside out just how it feels to have each Venus—and how it feels be in a relationship with each Venus sign. A wise and soulful coach, Jessica lights the way towards each sign's most evolved (and happiest) expression. Her prose is fresh, supple and seductive, as though it was Venus herself who'd been doing the typing."—Dana Gerhardt, columnist with The Mountain Astrologer