Origin of the "vanity" or "Valentine" - shaped heart: my students are studying the human heart.

Question

A student asked how the romantic heart shape came about, given the shape of the human heart. I have searched, but found no definitive answer.

Answer 1

Well, the only answer I know of is probably not one that you're going to want to share with your students, as the answer I have heard says that the traditional "heart" shape comes from the shape of the head of a human penis. Not really material for a classroom, but at least you'll know one theory.

Answer 2

"What the traditional 'heart shape' actually depicts is a matter of some controversy. It only vaguely resembles the human heart. Some people claim that it actually depicts the heart of a cow, a more readily available sight to most people in past centuries than an actual human heart. However, while bovine hearts are more similar to the iconic heart shape, the resemblance is still slight. The shape does resemble that of the three-chambered heart of the turtle, and that of the human male prostate gland, but it is very unlikely that the image was patterned after either of these organs. The double humps atop a stylized heart vaguely recall a human penis head's shape, but a rounded rather than pointed tip would better have captured the likeness.
The 'heart' shape could also be considered to depict features of the human female body, such as the female's pubic mound or spread vulva. A Sumerian cuneiform symbol for 'woman' closely resembles the heart shape, and is believed to directly depict the pubic mound. Others maintain that the heart resembles the shape of the female breasts or the female buttocks.

Another possible origin can be seen on the coins of the ancient city of Cyrene, some of which depict the seeds or fruit of the now-extinct silphium plant. The seeds are distinctly heart-shaped. Since this plant was widely used as an ancient herbal contraceptive or abortifacient, this shape may have come to be associated with sexuality and love.

The 'heart' shape is formed by the back and wings of a dove, which was associated with Aphrodite, the ancient Greek goddess of love."

The origin I had heard most is the one that the shape actually does somethat vaguely resemble a heart.

Answer 3

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General Research Guides for Students:

http://www.aresearchguide.com/

http://www.geocities.com/athens/troy/886...

http://www.studentresearcher.com/search/...

http://findarticles.com/

Research Link (type author, title or a key word or 2 into the search engine and fingers crossed.)