Medical Mythology: Aphrodite (Venus) Marc A. Shampo, Ph.D., and Robert A. Kyle, M.D.
In medicine, the name of Aphrodite (Venus) is preserved in the words "aphrodisiac" and "venereal" (venereal disease). An aphrodisiac is an agent used mainly to arouse sexual desire. Throughout history, many foods have been traditionally associated with aphrodisiac powers, the most popular being fish, vegetables, and spices. Scientific study has shown, however, that none of these purported aphrodisiacs possesses a chemical substance that could have a direct physiologic effect on the genitourinary system. With the exception of certain drugs such as alcohol and marijuana, which may lead to sexual excitation by depressing the inhibitory centers, modem science has recognized very few aphrodisiacs-principally, the cantharides and yohimbine. Most investigators believe, however, that any clinical change wrought by these substances is due to suggestion, because stimulatory effects are elicited only with toxic doses. Cantharides were once applied externally as powerful rubefacient and blistering agents and given internally as
Mayo Clin Proc 67:477.1992
diuretics and aphrodisiacs. Yohimbine, derived from the bark of the Yohimbe tree found in Central Africa, is a crystalline alkaloid that possesses adrenergic blocking properties and formerly was used as a local anesthetic and mydriatic agent and for its purported aphrodisiac qualities. According to legend, Venus, the goddess oflove, marriage, and fertility, was born from the sea. She was widely worshiped as a goddess of the sea and of seafaring. According to Homer, she was the daughter of Zeus (chief deity of the Greeks-equivalent to the Roman god Jupiter) and Dione, his consort at Dodona (a town in northwestern Greece). Of Aphrodite's mortal lovers, the most important were Anchises (member of the royal family of Troy), by whom she became the Mother of Aeneas (legendary hero of Troy and founder of Rome and from whom the family of Julius Caesar claimed descent), and Adonis (a youth of remarkable beauty-the favorite of Aphrodite). Aphrodite's greatest centers of worship were at Paphos (a town on the southwestern coast of Cyprus), at Amathus (an ancient city in Cyprus where the temple of Adonis and Aphrodite was famous during Roman times), and on the island of Cythera (southernmost of the Ionian Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, the site ofthe temple of Aphrodite). On the Greek mainland, Corinth (a city in northeastern Peloponnesus) was the chief center of worship. Aphrodite (Venus) has been featured on numerous Greek stamps. This one issued in 1937 shows the statue of Venus de Milo.
477
In medicine, the name of Aphrodite (Venus) is preserved in the words "aphrodisiac" and "venereal" (venereal disease). An aphrodisiac is an agent used mainly to arouse sexual desire. Throughout history, many foods have been traditionally associated with aphrodisiac powers, the most popular being fish, vegetables, and spices. Scientific study has shown, however, that none of these purported aphrodisiacs possesses a chemical substance that could have a direct physiologic effect on the genitourinary system. With the exception of certain drugs such as alcohol and marijuana, which may lead to sexual excitation by depressing the inhibitory centers, modem science has recognized very few aphrodisiacs-principally, the cantharides and yohimbine. Most investigators believe, however, that any clinical change wrought by these substances is due to suggestion, because stimulatory effects are elicited only with toxic doses. Cantharides were once applied externally as powerful rubefacient and blistering agents and given internally as
Mayo Clin Proc 67:477.1992
diuretics and aphrodisiacs. Yohimbine, derived from the bark of the Yohimbe tree found in Central Africa, is a crystalline alkaloid that possesses adrenergic blocking properties and formerly was used as a local anesthetic and mydriatic agent and for its purported aphrodisiac qualities. According to legend, Venus, the goddess oflove, marriage, and fertility, was born from the sea. She was widely worshiped as a goddess of the sea and of seafaring. According to Homer, she was the daughter of Zeus (chief deity of the Greeks-equivalent to the Roman god Jupiter) and Dione, his consort at Dodona (a town in northwestern Greece). Of Aphrodite's mortal lovers, the most important were Anchises (member of the royal family of Troy), by whom she became the Mother of Aeneas (legendary hero of Troy and founder of Rome and from whom the family of Julius Caesar claimed descent), and Adonis (a youth of remarkable beauty-the favorite of Aphrodite). Aphrodite's greatest centers of worship were at Paphos (a town on the southwestern coast of Cyprus), at Amathus (an ancient city in Cyprus where the temple of Adonis and Aphrodite was famous during Roman times), and on the island of Cythera (southernmost of the Ionian Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, the site ofthe temple of Aphrodite). On the Greek mainland, Corinth (a city in northeastern Peloponnesus) was the chief center of worship. Aphrodite (Venus) has been featured on numerous Greek stamps. This one issued in 1937 shows the statue of Venus de Milo.
477
