SAINT VALENTINE'S DAY

A Brief History

People once believed that birds, particularly lovebirds, began to mate on February 14. In ancient Rome the festival of the Lupercalia was celebrated on February 15; the festival involved fertility rites and honored the two Roman gods Juno and Pan. In modern times it is customary to exchange cards and other gifts with loved ones, close friends, and family members on February 14. The day is called St. Valentine's Day. The holiday apparently has no connection with the two martyred St. Valentines of 3rd-century Rome except that their feast days also are celebrated on February 14. The modern celebration of St. Valentine's Day probably grew out of a tradition that started in about the 14th century. For many years young people in France and England would get together on St. Valentine's Eve. Each person became the "valentine" of the one whose name was drawn from a valentine box.

The name Saint Valentine is given to two legendary Christian martyrs whose feasts were formerly observed on February 14. One, believed to be a Roman priest martyred c.269 during the persecution of Claudius the Goth, was buried on the Flaminian Way; the second was probably a bishop of Terni martyred in Rome. It is possible that these two legends were based on real people or, as some believe, one person. The association of Saint Valentine's Day with love and courtship may have arisen from the coincidence of the date with the Roman festival of Lupercalia. In 1969 the feast day was dropped from the Roman church calendar.

The Lupercalia was a Roman festival believed to have been in honor of Faunus, the god of flocks and fertility. Celebrated on February 15, it was intended to ensure the fertility of people, fields, and flocks for the new year. After sacrificing goats and a dog on the Palatine Hill, young men called Luperci raced around the borders of the hill striking those they met with whips made of the goatskins. Women who were struck were ensured of fertility and of easy delivery of children. The festival survived until the 5th century AD.

In Roman mythology, Faunus was a fertility and woodland god. An agricultural deity, Faunus protected crops, fields, flocks, and shepherds and invented a rustic musical instrument, the shawm. The Roman festival known as the Lupercalia was closely identified with Faunus, who, as Lupercus, was worshiped in a temple on the Palatine Hill. Faunus also functioned as a prophetic god. Some scholars have suggested that Faunus may have been an early king of Latium who was subsequently deified. Eros (mythology) In Greek mythology and philosophy, Eros played many roles. In the Theogony of Hesiod (c.750 BC), Eros impregnated Gaea (mother earth), and their offspring were Uranus (heaven), the sea, and mountains. The Birds of Aristophanes contains another theogony, in which Chaos and darkness first existed. Then night laid an egg in darkness, and Eros was hatched. Finally, Eros fertilized Chaos, who gave birth to ocean, heaven, earth, and all the gods.

Among some early Greek philosophers, Eros was love, the force responsible for all creation--if present--and for all destruction--if absent. As a young, playful god, he was often referred to as a son of Aphrodite and was frequently depicted as causing love by shooting a gold-tipped arrow. Many of his antics are related in the Aeneid of Vergil and in the Metamorphoses of Ovid. In art, he is usually depicted with wings, carrying a bow and wearing a quiver of arrows. In Roman mythology he is known as Cupid or Amor.

Valentine Links

The following links have lots of neat, fun valentine's things to see and do and send to your Valentine. Have fun with them!!!!

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This page was last updated January 27, 1999