Aphrodite girls always stand out, and they get many boyfriends, marriage proposals, and marriages, but they can’t stick, they go on to the next great love time after time, often not learning anything from the experience. The next one will certainly be better than the last… As James Hillman says, “Psyche serves in the temple of Aphrodite. Aphrodite is what makes something light up so you want it.”

 

But as time moves on, Aphrodite girls often end up alone.

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Praise for Tragic Beauty

A stunning portrait of Aphrodite's Archetypal appearances, from Mt. Olympus to the Hollywood streets, from crisis to consulting room. Dr. Landau, Jungian Analyst and Mythologist, knows the territory. She is a superb guide to the paradoxical reach of the love goddess, in her dazzling allure and infernal darkness and beyond—to a larger vision of life and wisdom.

STANTON MARLAN, PH.D., AUTHOR OF THE BLACK SUN: THE ALCHEMY AND ART OF DARKNESS

Arlene Landau has lived this book, which makes it jump alive from the opening lines, lit from within. With Aphrodite, the great Goddess of love and beauty—and dangerous seduction and tragedy too—as her subject, Landau brings a profoundly insightful eye and a flowing conversational style to an understanding of this Goddess who has ruled our culture for centuries. There is so much packed into this volume, a unique and important contribution to the culture at large and to depth psychology. Reading this book is like listening to a wise, beautiful, compassionate, utterly real woman tell us how it is, how it's been, and how it could be to know Aphrodite—and why it is so terribly important that we do.

LYN COWAN, PH.D., AUTHOR OF PORTRAIT OF THE BLUE LADY: THE CHARACTER OF MELANCHOLY

Arlene Landau's beautifully written book on Aphrodite gives us stunning descriptions of the goddess as we see Her around us in our daily lives and experience Her in the depths of the Psyche. This volume is rich and unyieldingly engaging. In-depth and deftly written, it's meaningful for Jungian analysts, therapists, and laypeople alike. Landau's book is especially valuable for women who are caught in sparkles and five-inch heels in their endless pursuit of beauty, often far into old age. These women often do not know why their appearance is so all-important, and it is similarly a puzzle to those around them. Landau's honest and personal volume is also important for the men who gravitate toward Venus-type women. These men are often left devastated, disappointed, and lost when their love affairs with golden glittery beauties do not last.

LINDA SCHIERSE LEONARD, PH.D., AUTHOR OF THE WOUNDED WOMEN AND THE CALL TO CREATE

Women of all ages delight in the astonishing sense of power and desirability that the goddess Aphrodite can bring. However, women, especially in our current era, give little thought of the resulting downfall when identifying so closely with this archetypal energy. It is then that the dark side of Aphrodite enters their life. With poignant examples, author and psychoanalyst, Arlene Landau, explores the wounding of feminine nature when only sexual prowess and beauty are valued. She explores ways in which to redeem that which is lost in order to restore and realize the splendor of an all-encompassing feminine nature. This timely message brings to consciousness a special new image of all that women can be.

NANCY QUALLS-CORBETT, PH.D., AUTHOR OF THE SACRED PROSTITUTE: ETERNAL ASPECT OF THE FEMININE