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Emily Temple , Teri Temple , Eric Young

Venus: Goddess of Love and Beauty

YEAR: 2020

COUNTRY: United States of America

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Title of the work

Venus: Goddess of Love and Beauty

Country of the First Edition

Country/countries of popularity

worldwide

Original Language

English

First Edition Date

2020

First Edition Details

Teri Temple & Emily Temple, ill. Eric Young, Venus: Goddess of Love and Beauty. New York: AV² by Weigl, 2020, 32 pp.

ISBN

9781489695208 (soft cover)

Genre

Myths

Target Audience

Children (9–12 years)

Cover

Missing cover

We are still trying to obtain permission for posting the original cover.


Author of the Entry:

Ayelet Peer, Bar-Ilan University, ayelet.peer@biu.ac.il

Peer-reviewer of the Entry:

Lisa Maurice, Bar-Ilan University, lisa.maurice@biu.ac.il 

Susan Deacy, University of Roehampton, s.deacy@roehampton.ac.uk 

Female portrait

Emily Temple (Author)

Emily Temple holds an MFA in fiction from the University of Virginia. She is the recipient of the Henfield Prize. She writes fiction as well as nonfiction and criticism.


Source: 

EmilyTemple.net (accessed: November 8, 2020).



Bio prepared by Ayelet Peer, Bar-Ilan University, ayelet.peer@gmail.com


Female portrait

Teri Temple (Production Company)

Teri Temple is the author of various books on ancient Greek gods, such as Artemis: Goddess of Hunting and Protector of Animals, Ares: God of War, Hermes: God of Travels and Trade, and more.


Bio prepared by Ayelet Peer, Bar-Ilan University, ayelet.peer@gmail.com


Male portrait

Eric Young (Illustrator)

Eric Young is a freelance illustrator and concept artist. He worked on Geek Squad Academy. He holds an associate's degree from Delaware College of Art and Design.


Source: 

http://www.ericyoungart.com/ (accessed: November 8, 2020).



Bio prepared by Ayelet Peer, Bar-Ilan University, ayelet.peer@gmail.com


Summary

This short book is part of "the gods and goddesses of ancient Rome series." The books in the series are referred to as enhanced, meaning that each book has a unique code that unlocks multimedia content. This aspect is discussed under our Education survey, "Children's and Young Adults' Education Inspired by Classical Antiquity". 

The book explains the character of Venus (Greek Aphrodite) with accompanying colourful illustrations. The book includes a family tree of the gods, keywords, and Index.

While the series refers to Roman deities, the related myths are Greek in origin. The book narrates Venus' birth from Caelus' member, which was cast to the ocean. The other myths include Venus' marriage to Vulcan, her affair with Mars, some of her children (Concordia, Timor, Metus, Cupid), the judgment of Paris and the birth of Aeneas. There is also a brief retelling of Atalanta and Hippomenes and Pygmalion and Galatea.

The main text is followed by brief extras of information about the 12 Olympians, Roman society, Venus in art, Sol, the Trojan War, the planet Venus, women in ancient Rome, temple of Venus in Rome and Virgil.

Analysis

While the Romans identified their own gods with the Greek pantheon, the stories they have told about them are basically Greek mythology and not Roman; Roman poets narrated Greek mythological stories to their readers yet they used the Roman names of the gods and goddesses. Hence, it may appear a bit strange to read about Caelus and Terra, since these are not original Roman creation myths. The introduction notes that the "Romans combined the Greek myths and religion with their own" and that "Roman mythology was their key to understanding the world" (p. 4). However, this explanation is more suitable for the ancient Greeks than the ancient Romans. The Romans may have combined and identified many of their own native gods with the Greeks', yet, they were aware that the related myths were Greek and not Roman in origin (except the journeys of Aeneas and Remus and Romulus).  A short explanation, so that the young readers would understand that they are reading Greek mythology with additional information on Venus' importance to the Romans (for example, Julius Caesar) would have clarified matters.

It appears that some of the extra informative items added in the book are simply Greek myths with only the names changed from Greek to Roman. For example, it is noted that "The people of Rome believed the gods lived together on Mount Olympus" (p. 10). The Romans had their own shrines and while they accepted Olympus as the celestial dwelling of the gods, they placed less emphasis on this Greek mountain and focused on their own sacred sanctuaries and shrines. Furthermore, the information on ancient Roman women refers in fact to Greek women, who were not considered citizens, rather than to Roman ones.

The illustrations use strong colours. Venus is depicted with blonde hair and blue eyes (repeated signifiers of beauty in various modern adaptations of Aphrodite) and she is wearing a green dress (not a peplos, but something a bit more modern). Her appearance is not too revealing or sexy. The dress' upper part reveals her bare shoulders yet is not a classical peplum. Se is not too skinny or curvy either. On her (blond) hair colour, see the reference in other works: Heroes in Training (Series, Book 11): Uranus and the Bubbles of Trouble by Joan Holub or Taki and Toula Time Travelers (Series, Book 5): Aphrodite Finds Her Inner Beauty by Elena Paige.


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Title of the work

Venus: Goddess of Love and Beauty

Country of the First Edition

Country/countries of popularity

worldwide

Original Language

English

First Edition Date

2020

First Edition Details

Teri Temple & Emily Temple, ill. Eric Young, Venus: Goddess of Love and Beauty. New York: AV² by Weigl, 2020, 32 pp.

ISBN

9781489695208 (soft cover)

Genre

Myths

Target Audience

Children (9–12 years)

Cover

Missing cover

We are still trying to obtain permission for posting the original cover.


Author of the Entry:

Ayelet Peer, Bar-Ilan University, ayelet.peer@biu.ac.il

Peer-reviewer of the Entry:

Lisa Maurice, Bar-Ilan University, lisa.maurice@biu.ac.il 

Susan Deacy, University of Roehampton, s.deacy@roehampton.ac.uk 

Female portrait

Emily Temple (Author)

Emily Temple holds an MFA in fiction from the University of Virginia. She is the recipient of the Henfield Prize. She writes fiction as well as nonfiction and criticism.


Source: 

EmilyTemple.net (accessed: November 8, 2020).



Bio prepared by Ayelet Peer, Bar-Ilan University, ayelet.peer@gmail.com


Female portrait

Teri Temple (Production Company)

Teri Temple is the author of various books on ancient Greek gods, such as Artemis: Goddess of Hunting and Protector of Animals, Ares: God of War, Hermes: God of Travels and Trade, and more.


Bio prepared by Ayelet Peer, Bar-Ilan University, ayelet.peer@gmail.com


Male portrait

Eric Young (Illustrator)

Eric Young is a freelance illustrator and concept artist. He worked on Geek Squad Academy. He holds an associate's degree from Delaware College of Art and Design.


Source: 

http://www.ericyoungart.com/ (accessed: November 8, 2020).



Bio prepared by Ayelet Peer, Bar-Ilan University, ayelet.peer@gmail.com


Summary

This short book is part of "the gods and goddesses of ancient Rome series." The books in the series are referred to as enhanced, meaning that each book has a unique code that unlocks multimedia content. This aspect is discussed under our Education survey, "Children's and Young Adults' Education Inspired by Classical Antiquity". 

The book explains the character of Venus (Greek Aphrodite) with accompanying colourful illustrations. The book includes a family tree of the gods, keywords, and Index.

While the series refers to Roman deities, the related myths are Greek in origin. The book narrates Venus' birth from Caelus' member, which was cast to the ocean. The other myths include Venus' marriage to Vulcan, her affair with Mars, some of her children (Concordia, Timor, Metus, Cupid), the judgment of Paris and the birth of Aeneas. There is also a brief retelling of Atalanta and Hippomenes and Pygmalion and Galatea.

The main text is followed by brief extras of information about the 12 Olympians, Roman society, Venus in art, Sol, the Trojan War, the planet Venus, women in ancient Rome, temple of Venus in Rome and Virgil.

Analysis

While the Romans identified their own gods with the Greek pantheon, the stories they have told about them are basically Greek mythology and not Roman; Roman poets narrated Greek mythological stories to their readers yet they used the Roman names of the gods and goddesses. Hence, it may appear a bit strange to read about Caelus and Terra, since these are not original Roman creation myths. The introduction notes that the "Romans combined the Greek myths and religion with their own" and that "Roman mythology was their key to understanding the world" (p. 4). However, this explanation is more suitable for the ancient Greeks than the ancient Romans. The Romans may have combined and identified many of their own native gods with the Greeks', yet, they were aware that the related myths were Greek and not Roman in origin (except the journeys of Aeneas and Remus and Romulus).  A short explanation, so that the young readers would understand that they are reading Greek mythology with additional information on Venus' importance to the Romans (for example, Julius Caesar) would have clarified matters.

It appears that some of the extra informative items added in the book are simply Greek myths with only the names changed from Greek to Roman. For example, it is noted that "The people of Rome believed the gods lived together on Mount Olympus" (p. 10). The Romans had their own shrines and while they accepted Olympus as the celestial dwelling of the gods, they placed less emphasis on this Greek mountain and focused on their own sacred sanctuaries and shrines. Furthermore, the information on ancient Roman women refers in fact to Greek women, who were not considered citizens, rather than to Roman ones.

The illustrations use strong colours. Venus is depicted with blonde hair and blue eyes (repeated signifiers of beauty in various modern adaptations of Aphrodite) and she is wearing a green dress (not a peplos, but something a bit more modern). Her appearance is not too revealing or sexy. The dress' upper part reveals her bare shoulders yet is not a classical peplum. Se is not too skinny or curvy either. On her (blond) hair colour, see the reference in other works: Heroes in Training (Series, Book 11): Uranus and the Bubbles of Trouble by Joan Holub or Taki and Toula Time Travelers (Series, Book 5): Aphrodite Finds Her Inner Beauty by Elena Paige.


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