Sacrifice. Whippings. Walking around naked. Such activities that today people consider distasteful once marked this holiday dedicated to love. The red color people now associate with the heart, warmness, and adoration, originally symbolized the blood wrought at this pagan ritual.
Valentine’s Day originated in Roman times, and was celebrated from Feb. 13 to Feb. 15. It was known as the celebration of Lupercalia, meant to honor the Roman god of fertility, Lupercus. Lupercus was a bloody affair, sounding more like a cultish celebration from a horror movie than modern Valentines. A goat and a dog were sacrificed. The goat represents fertility and the dog represents the she-wolf that nursed the founders of Rome when they were young. Afterward, strips of hide were cut off the animals and used to whip young women. The Romans thought it would make the women fertile. The men who did this were drunk and often didn’t wear any clothes. Then random matchmaking would commence. The men would draw random names from a jar which determined which woman they would spend the rest of the festival with. Sometimes they stayed together even longer.
Another part of Valentine’s Day to be taken directly from the Romans is Cupid (roughly translating to “desire”), although the Romans stole Cupid from the Greeks. In Greece, Cupid was known as Eros, a handsome god of love. He had a bow and arrow. Loaded in his bow were golden arrows and leaden ones, which induced love and disdain, respectively. In Roman mythology, Cupid was a child doing the bidding of his mother Venus, the goddess of Love.
Legend has it that during the festivities a man by the name of Valentine was beheaded by the Roman Emperor Claudius II on Feb. 14. Valentine was originally arrested for helping persecuted Christians and marrying Christian couples, both of which weren’t allowed under Roman rule. His marriage of Christian couples is why he is commonly associated with courtly love. While in prison he refused to renounce his Christianity in front of Claudius II and was sentenced to death. While in prison, he allegedly helped a blind woman see. The day before his execution he allegedly sent her a note saying “From Your Valentine.” There are many different stories about Saint Valentine. Some scholars even think there are two Saint Valentines, executed in different years, but both on Feb. 14 and both under Claudius ll. The history around this is very murky, and probably not that accurate. Pope Gelasius combined the celebration of St. Valentine with the celebration of Lupercus in the fifth century, in an effort to dispel the original pagan ritual.
Valentine’s Day was romanticized into what it is today in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The English poet Geoffrey Chaucer was one of the pioneers of associating Valentine’s Day with Romance. It is mentioned prominently in his poem “The Parliament of Fowls”. In “The Parliament of Fowls,” February is supposed to be the month in which birds mate. Another, more well-known figure who popularized Valentine’s Day was Shakespeare. Shakespeare mentions Valentine’s Day in his popular plays, Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet, building off Chaucer’s claim of Valentine’s Day being a day for lovers.
Today Valentine’s Day celebrations vary wildly. Many people choose not to celebrate. When asked if he was doing anything for Valentine’s Day, Simon Walsh, an Ida. B. Wells senior said, “Not really…try to hang out with friends.” Other people are more extravagant in their Valentine’s Day celebrations. Asked about her Valentine’s Day plans, senior Ania Leonarda said. “This year I’m having a Pal-entines day party, like valentines but with my friends, where we’re making heart-shaped pizzas and watching cheesy rom-coms, and then I’m baking heart-shaped cinnamon rolls for my improv team.” We all celebrate (or not celebrate) Valentine’s Day in different ways, but thankfully we have evolved beyond the original Lupercalia.
