In the spirit of Valentine's Day, let me first say that I ♥ you. Since we are living in the age of emojis, we all know that by ♥, I mean 'love'. But how did this symbol - which looks nothing like the human heart, by the way - come to represent love and romance? The answer lies, as many do, in the distant past. One of the first ever depictions of a recognizable heart symbol appeared on a silver coin in the seventh century BC. It looked like this. aThis wasn't drawn to represent love, however; rather, it represented the now-extinct silphium plant. Silphium was a fennel-like herb that grew along a 30-mile stretch of coast on the Mediterranean sea near the city of Cyrene, in what is now Libya. Silphium, which had seeds that were distinctly heart-shaped, was used in ancient times as a seasoning -- but more importantly it was also used as a form of birth control. Its leaves were ground up and put it into a resin, and women who did not want to get pregnant would ingest this concoction once a month. Silphium was so rare and sought-after that by the 1st century BC, it was over-harvested into extinction. While we can't know for sure just how effective it was as a method of birth control, it was definitely a hot commodity - so hot that it appeared on almost all of Cyrene's currency. And so the theory goes that the heart shape began as a symbol of sexuality, and eventually evolved into an emblem of romantic love. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ A different theory holds that the modern heart symbol came from early botched attempts at describing the human heart's appearance. Back in the fourth century BC, Greek philosopher and biologist Aristotle described the heart as a three-chambered organ with a rounded top, a pointed bottom and a depression between the two main chambers. (Nowadays we recognize that there are actually four chambers per heart, per human. Usually.) Some sources believe it was this description that inspired medieval artists to create the heart shape as we now know it. Aristotle also believed that the heart, as the center of vitality, was the most important organ in the body. It was the seat of intelligence, emotion and sensation. In fact, it was Aristotle's view that the heart was far more important than the brain, whose function was merely to cool down the naturally warm-temperatured heart. So it is probably in large part thanks to Aristotle's writings that we talk about the heart as if it is central to our emotions, saying things like 'Follow your heart' and 'Change of heart.' ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ Fast-forward to the Middle Ages, and the heart becomes a major symbol for medieval heraldry, where it is used to represent sincerity and clarity. In this instance, it is believed that the shape more often represented foliage rather than the heart organ. The hearts in the Coat of Arms of Denmark, for example, which dates back to the 12th century AD, are assumed to have depicted the leaves of a water-lily. Christian theology also played a large part in the proliferation of the heart symbol - specifically, the image of the Sacred Heart. In art, the Sacred Heart was often depicted emitting light or suffering from wounds. It was a symbol for Jesus Christ and his divine love for humanity, and it likely contributed greatly to the modern emblematic link between the heart and love. Of course, one of the most iconic representations of the heart symbol appears in a deck of playing cards. The modern suits - clubs, spades, diamonds and hearts - were developed by the French in the early 1500s. (Prior to this, the Mameluke empire of Egypt - some of the earliest playing card aficionados - played with goblets, gold coins, swords, and polo-sticks. And 15th-century German card-makers used acorns, leaves, hearts and bells.) There are several other explanations for the development of the heart shape and its association with love. In geometric terms, the heart symbol is a cardioid - a shape that commonly occurs in nature, sometimes with quite romantic undertones. A cardioid is formed when two swans touch beaks, for example, and when a dove - which was associated with Aphrodite, the ancient Greek goddess of love - opens it wings. In the 1970s, New York City ran its I♥NY campaign, and the heart symbol's function as a synonym for 'love' was instantly solidified. Nowadays, the heart symbol is everywhere, from bumper stickers and doodles to our emoji keyboards and Valentine's Day treats. It may have evolved from an anatomically incorrect description of the human heart, but I'm pretty sure Aristotle had his heart in the right place. And that, my dear readers, is the heart of the matter.
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