Valentine's Day History Quiz

Who is the Roman god of love, often portrayed as a naked cherub?

• Eros

• Zeus

• Ares

• Hades

How did the traditional Lupercalia festival typically end?

• Women would send goat hides to men they admired.

• People wore wolf costumes to celebrate the she-wolf who raised Rome's founders.

• Women would put their names in a drawing to be matched (and possibly married) to an eligible bachelor.

• People would write anonymous poems to someone they had a secret crush on.

Which of the following countries does not typically celebrate Valentine's Day?

• France

• England

• Mexico

• Lithuania

Who is known as the 'Mother of the Valentine' for selling the first mass-produced valentines in America?

• Martha Stewart

• Esther A. Howland

• Emily Dickinson

• Jane Austen

What did the Roman priests use to gently slap women and crop fields during the festival of Lupercalia?

• Cowhide

• Goat hide

• Sheepskin

• Pigskin

Which English poet was the first to record St. Valentine’s Day as a day of romantic celebration in his 1375 poem 'Parliament of Foules'?

• William Shakespeare

• Alexander Pope

• Geoffrey Chaucer

• John Milton

In which century did written Valentines begin to appear?

• 12th century

• 13th century

• 14th century

• 15th century

Which characterization trait was NOT revealed about Valentine?

• heroic

• self-centered

• empathetic

• romantic

Based on textual evidence from the last section of the reading, try to re-create one of the Valentines from the 1700s-1900s.