Venus

“The robot craft, the fifth from the Soviet Union to land ⟳ on Venus, is a module detached from Venera 13. It plunged through the dense, baking-hot carbon dioxide atmosphere and touched down in the foothills of a mountainous region known as Phoebe, just south of the Venusian equator and also below the active volcanic region of Beta. An identical lander, from Venera 14, is expected to reach ⟳ Venus Friday and probably put ⟳ down on the plains east of the Phoebe landing site.”

“Of all the classic Venuses known to us in modern times, this Venus of Milo is certainly the most popular.”

“To call ⟳ either or both of them by the name ⟳ of Venus seems to me too positive; for although the theory of love ⟳ which they embody was unquestionably associated with the two Venuses in Plato, ‘one draped, the other nude’, it is important to observe ⟳ that, in contradistinction to Botticelli and Mantegna, Titian endowed the figures with attributes and characters which transcend the mythological idiom.”

“Now from Ficino’s In Platonis Convivium we learn ⟳ that for the Neoplatonic philosopher there are two Veneres, not one. The first of these ‘twin Veneres’ is the Venus coelestis, born of Coelus alone, without a mother—since mater interpreted philosophically implies materia, and she is altogether immaterial.”

“Portable bronze statuettes began to proliferate in mid-15th-century Italy as antique medals, […] With their emphasis on mythological power struggles and sex — Hercules crushing Antaeus was big, as were upright or reclining Venuses and nymphs — the statuettes were also status symbols.”

“A mirrored [Venus] Williams, shown from behind and in profile, wears a tennis skirt made of raffia and the Wimbledon trophy dish refashioned as a collared chestplate apropos for a warrior superhero. […] Pruitt sees “a fertile space of reflection” between his two Venuses. “My hope ⟳,” he said, “is that the duality of the portrait gives us this sense ⟳ of a person looking back at themselves, considering where they came from and where they’re going.””

“Immoderate Venus in excess, as it is a cause, or in defect; so, moderately used, to some parties an only help ⟳, a present ⟳ remedy.”

“CRYSTALS of Venus or of copper, called also vitriol of Venus, is copper reduced into the form ⟳ of vitriol by spirit of nitre, or by dissolving verdegris in good distilled vinegar, till the acid be saturated; it is very caustic and used to eat ⟳ off proud flesh. It is also used by painters, and manufacturers, and sold under the name ⟳ of distilled vinegar. See ⟳ CHEMISTRY.”

“Another pair of terms which caused some confusion were Spirit of Saturn and Spirit of Venus, names suggesting compounds of lead ⟳ and copper respectively. Jean Beguin described the preparation from minium and distilled vinegar of a liquid he called burning spirit of Saturn, because it was inflammable and he thought it was a compound of lead ⟳. Actually the lead ⟳ takes no part in the reaction and the product of distilling lead ⟳ acetate is impure acetone. Beguin’s terminology did not go without comment ⟳ however, for Christopher Glaser later referred to ‘A burning Spirit of Saturn (as it is called) but rather, a Spirit of the Volatile Salt of Vinegar’. Tachenius referred to the product of distillation of copper acetate as ‘pretended spirit of Venus’ because it was really only distilled vinegar - the meaning which Macquer gave to the expression. It is typical of the confusion of terminology in early chemistry that the London Pharmacopoeia of 1721 gave the name ⟳ Spiritus Veneris to sulphuric acid obtained by the distillation of copper sulphate.”

“The association of the heavenly bodies with known metals and also with human organs and destinies goes back to ancient Chaldea, the land ⟳ of astrologers. In Chaucer’s words: ‘The seven bodies eek, lo hear ⟳ anon. Sol gold is, and Luna silver we declare ⟳; Mars yron, Mercurie is quyksilver; Saturnian leed; and Jubitur is tyn, and Venus coper, by my fathers kyn.’ […] Corresponding names were bestowed upon salts of these metals by the alchemists, and some of them have ⟳ persisted down to the present ⟳ day. Some examples are lunar caustic (silver nitrate); vitriol of Venus (copper sulphate); sugar of Saturn (lead ⟳ acetate); and vitriol of Mars, or Martial vitriol (ferrous sulphate).”

“Their figures are universally models for brunette Venuses, and their feet arched like ⟳ rainbows, and Cinderellan in size.”

“While the goddess statues obviously did function in a very public, domestic context, there is no evidence that they were androgynyous or that they were the primary cult of importance. There are probably just as many phalli in the Paleolithic as there are Venuses.”

“However, a number ⟳ of well-crafted studies in recent years have ⟳ forcefully questioned—and perhaps refuted—the view ⟳ that the Venuses were simply or solely goddesses.”

“Her proportions, the stylistic elements, the choice of anatomical elements represented are characteristic of the Aurignacian or Gravettian Venuses, known especially from the statuary of Central and Eastern Europe.”

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B1

Intermediate
This word is part of the CEFR B1 vocabulary — intermediate level.

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