Lupercalia - the Ancient Origin of Valentine's Day Free Essay Sample

Philosopher Heraclitus once said, “Nothing is permanent except change.” There are many events in this world that prove this quote to be true. Like Valentine's day, it happens to be one of those many events. This holiday today is known as a very loving and romantic day but as Philosopher Heraclitus says everything is in flux and this holiday is proof of that. Although Valentine's Day might seem like this amazing holiday today, the origin of this day started out quite differently. It started as a festival, “long before Valentine's Day was celebrated, a festival that had nothing to do with love took place around the same time of the year” (Moon 1). Its name was Lupercalia, it took place on February 15th and was seen as a melancholy festival (Moon 1). The origin of the holiday wasn't the same day we all know and love today, “instead of flowers and chocolates, the festival was marked by more ominous rituals” (Moon 1). So how did the Roman Festival of Lupercalia lead to Valentine’s Day? Well, the Roman Festival could’ve led to Valentine’s Day in many different ways like the pope banning the festival, St.Valentines being executed, or unmarried men drawing female names out of a jar like a type of lottery. 

One of the many reasons for how the Roman Festival of Lupercalia led to Valentine’s Day would be the pope banning the festival. Lupercalia was supposed to honor the god of agriculture Faunus (Maxwell 34). In the festival men would honor Faunus by sacrificing goats for better fertility. The men cut up the sacrificed goat to use to hit women while running downtown (Moon 1). The young men would be dressed in hide, running around the town hitting bystanders with parts of the sacrificed goats (Lupercalia 1). People believed being hit by parts of the goat would mean that you would have better luck with fertility (Moon 1). But of course this was seen as unholy and un-Christian because you were honoring another god. So eventually this festival was prohibited due to it being un-Christian (Strachan 96). Later down the line one of the popes introduced a new holiday called Valentine’s Day. This Pope's name was Gelasius “who in 498 AD declared February 14 as Valentine’s Day” (Strachan 96). Which would’ve been Lupercalia Eve during that time showing a connection between the two. 

Another reason of the many, that the Roman Festival led to Valentine’s Day would be St. Valentine's execution. The beginning of this festival is said to have been caused by the Roman Emperor Claudius II who had prohibited marriage because he thought this would make for finer servicemen (Brooks 1). Although there was a ban on marriage there was one priest that did not listen and carried on marrying couples, this priest's name was Valentine (Brooks 1). Eventually Valentine was caught defying these orders and was sent to prison. When he was sent to prison he ended up falling in love with a woman who would always visit him (Brooks 1). This woman who always came to see him ended up being one of the worst people to fall in love with in his case. This woman happened to be his keeper's daughter, “ Valentine, who was in prison, sending a love letter to his jailor’s daughter, signing it, ‘From your Valentine’” (Strachan 96). This letter he had sent was seen as the earliest Valentine card (Brooks 1). Over time “when Valentine’s actions were discovered, he was put to death” (Strachan 96). Some time after he was executed the Catholic church decided to honor Valentine as a saint (Maxwell 34). Which is why people call him St. Valentine and not just Valentine. Eventually the Priest made a day for St. Valentine also known as “the Christian martyr Saint Valentine” and that day was February 14th and this holiday was made in honor of him (Moon 2). 

Finally, the last well known reason that the Roman Festival led to Valentine's Day was that unmarried men would draw young women's names out of a jar like a type of lottery. This event was from the Roman festival and would be how some men would find their wives. There would be a jar full of single women's names in which the unmarried men in the town would pick a name of a woman that could be their potential wife (Strachan 96). Men would draw names of women to find spouses or girlfriends for the festival (Maxwell 34). When these men would draw the females' names they would be stuck together for a year and it would commonly end in marriage (Strachan 96). This is why many think the old Roman festival has a connection with Valentine's Day. Because of the matchmaking lottery, a belief that evidence has supported, would be that Lupercalia did have some sort of connection to Valentine’s Day (Moon 2).

In conclusion, the holiday known as Valentines today started off completely different. From an ancient sadistic ritual to a day all about love, there have been quite a few changes over time. Most of those changes were caused because of the festival known as Lupercalia. The relation of the changes and the festival would be what were the possible reasons this festival led to Valentines Day and there were quite a few of those possible reasons. No ones entirely sure how this festival led to Valentine's day or if the reasons are true but they’re possibilities of how these two events could be related. One reason could’ve been the pope banning the festival for sadistic reasons and creating February 14th as Valentine's Day. As well as St.Valentines being executed for continuing to marry couples even after the imperial ban and falling in love with his Jailer's daughter. Lastly, the lottery that took place during the festival where unmarried men would draw female names out of a jar to find their possible future spouse.