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Valentine’s Day explainer: how did the holiday of love start, and why do men give women flowers and chocolates on February 14, anyway?

Much like the muddled history of Valentine’s Day, the reason for giving flowers on February 14 also isn’t clear – but this dog doesn’t seem to care.
Much like the muddled history of Valentine’s Day, the reason for giving flowers on February 14 also isn’t clear – but this dog doesn’t seem to care.

What do heart-shaped chocolates, red roses and a winged infant have to do with Valentine’s Day?

How could a holiday created to celebrate love and romance be born of brutality and debauchery? What do chocolates and flowers have to do with expressions of affection? And how did a naked cherub get in the picture?

The answers to these Valentine’s Day questions are not entirely clear. There are various accounts of how all these symbols made their way to the modern-day holiday d’amour, but here are the most common:

Flowers and chocolates
Flowers and chocolates
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The history of Valentine’s Day

The romantic holiday has a somewhat debated past. Many believe it started with its namesake, Valentine, a Roman priest who married men and women in secret when marriage was outlawed by Emperor Claudius II. Claudius didn’t want men getting married because he thought married men made bad soldiers. Valentine disagreed with the ruling and performed clandestine ceremonies. He was found out, sentenced to death and put in jail until his day of doom. Legend has it the jailer’s daughter visited the priest when he was locked up and the two fell in love. On the day of his death, February 14, he sent a letter to her and signed it “from your Valentine”.

But most believe Valentine’s Day was created to replace a debaucherous pagan ritual celebrated during the feast of Lupercalia, which took place in mid-February. The bloody tradition had men butchering dogs and goats and whipping women with the hides of the newly-killed animals. Women believed they would become fertile through the beatings. Apparently, people ran naked in the streets and drank like sailors on shore leave.

Noel Lenski, a Yale University historian, says the festival was known for its debauchery and nudity until Pope Gelasius I made it a Christian holiday in the fifth century, according to The New York Times.

Cupid

The most popular story of Cupid comes from the Roman poet Ovid. Apparently, Apollo angered Cupid by telling him to “leave archery to people like me”, Angeline Chiu, associate professor of classics at the University of Vermont told USA Today. Cupid, who appeared as a winged infant, wanted to prove Apollo wrong, and shot both Apollo and Daphne with golden arrows so the two would fall in love. Cupid’s plan worked on Apollo, but not on Daphne. He fell in love, but she was repulsed by him.

Cupid
Cupid
Roxanne Dowell is a freelance lifestyle editor and writer living in Hong Kong. When she isn’t out trying the latest bar and restaurant openings, you’ll find her hiking the Hong Kong trails with her husband and two strong-willed teenager girls, or hopping on a flight to a country she hasn’t yet explored.