Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, February 14, 1994                   TAG: 9402140016
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BOSTON                                LENGTH: Medium

FORGET THE CHOCOLATES, HOW ABOUT HYENA EYES?

Or try snaring your Valentine's Day sweetheart by sleeping (presumably alone) with an orange under your armpit.

Americans are expected to spend about $655 million on candy to mark Valentine's Day this year, according to the National Confectioners Association, but giving chocolates and sending cards are only two techniques from centuries of romantic traditions.

The ancient Romans held fertility festivals, in which women masqueraded as wolves and waited to be whipped by men wearing loincloths.

The Romans held their Lupercalia festival every February until 495 A.D., when a pope put a stop to it. Today, during Lenten celebrations in Italy and Greece, young men still chase young women while brandishing whips - made of plastic.

Ancient Romans also believed in the romantic potency of eating hippopotamus snout and hyena eyes, although food scientist Richard Mudgett said he isn't sure why.

Mudgett, who gives a lecture on "lewd food" in his University of Massachussetts course called "World Food Habits," said oranges are a more common food associated with romance and sexual pleasure.

To attract a lover, he said, make pin pricks in an orange, then sleep with the orange under your armpit. According to folklore, the person who eats the orange will fall in love with you.

Oranges also were considered aphrodisiacs in ancient China, when the emperor would share slices with his favorite concubine and sprinkle orange blossoms on their bed, Mudgett said.

Other so-called "lewd foods" include artichokes, bananas and figs, which follow the logic that if a food resembles sexual organs, it must inspire sexual feelings.

Mudgett said there's no scientific basis for the amorous reputations of these and other fruits and vegetables, though food and romance go hand in hand in Western culture. Friends meet for lunch; lovers court over dinner.

"The two most powerful urges involve food and sex," said Mudgett. "One's for survival, the other for procreation, but certainly both stimulate people to salivate."