The Many Faces of Venus
Preface
The present book is the first in a series of volumes exploring the role of the planet Venus in ancient myth and religion. Our ultimate goal is to offer a comparative analysis of Venus-lore and determine whether a consistent and meaningful pattern can be reconstructed from the many seemingly contradictory and incongruous descriptions of the planet. If such a pattern can be demonstrated, important questions arise as to its origin and ultimate significance.
It should be stated at the outset that The Many Faces of Venus is very much a work in progress and more a series of vignettes or snapshots than a full-fledged documentary. This is a direct result of the vastness and complexity of the subject matter. Each of the included chapters, if fully elaborated and properly illustrated, could easily fill a volume on its own. In order to pursue and properly analyze all of the intriguing leads uncovered during the course of this research, dozens of additional chapters would have been necessary. Yet it was necessary to draw the line somewhere, for better or for worse. Rather than delay publication further, the decision was made to forge ahead and give readers a sense of the compelling controversy at hand.
Ev Cochrane is an independent researcher specializing in comparative mythology and one of the century’s most vocal proponents of planetary catastrophism. Phaethon is the fifth book in a series attempting to reconstruct the history and astronomical context for a number of epochal disasters associated with the planets Mars and Venus. Mr. Cochrane is a graduate of Iowa State University (1981), where he received a Master’s degree in science (genetics).
Other titles by Ev:
Martian Metamorphoses
Starf✸cker
On Fossil Gods and Forgotten Worlds
Phaethon
