Introduction: The Nature of Aphrodisiacs

Abstract

Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of desire, supposedly sprang from the seed of the god Uranus, symbolized by the foam on the sea from which she rose, naked, near the shores of Cythera. She has since been worshipped as a fertility goddess in shrines throughout the countries of the mediterranean area. To the Romans she was Venus, the irresistibly beautiful goddess of love. During a promiscuous existence on Earth she had, according to Greek legend, sons by various partners and named, appropriately enough, Eros, Priapus and Hermaphrodite. Even if the goddess and her family have long since passed into mythology, she has left a more tangible legacy in the form of a host of animal and vegetable products bearing her name and reputedly capable of facilitating sexual desire.