Thursday, June 30, 2005

Egyptians ate lettuce to boost sex drive

The ancient Egyptians used lettuce as an aphrodisiac, according to an Italian researcher who claims to have solved a century-old archaeological puzzle.

Lettuce has been known for its mild sedative and painkilling effects since Greek and Roman times.

It owes its Latin name lactuca to lac or milk, the plant's bitter white sap or latex, which is mentioned in many ancient treatises.

As early as 430 BC, Greek physician Hippocrates described the opium-like effects of the sap.

And according to Dioscorides Pedanios, a Greek naturalist and military surgeon to the armies of the Roman emperor Nero in the 1st century AD, lettuce would drive out libidinous images of dreams.

Pliny the Elder, in the 2nd century AD, also wrote about lettuce's ability to dampen sexual desire. He wrote in his Natural History that lettuce is "sleep-inducing, can cool sexual appetite as well as a feverish body, purge the stomach, and increase the volume of blood".

Yet Egyptian bas reliefs put a different spin on the use of lettuce: the plant appears as an offering to the ancient Egyptian deity Min.

Invariably depicted with a large, erect penis, Min was the god of fertility and sexuality. For more than a century, archaeologists have wondered why a vegetable used to calm dreams was associated with the exuberant Min.

Source - ABC Net

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