Valentine’s Explained: Why There Is A Half Naked Archery Baby

We've tackled the cheesy cards adorned with cartoon characters, we've discovered the salacious truth of the heart symbol. Now we tackle Cupid.

Cupid is nothing new. We all know what he does, what he represents. He shows up with his tiny bow and arrow, shoots you, and you fall in love.

He's the son of Greek goddess Aphrodite, Roman goddess Venus. According to mythology he acts on the orders of his mother. He is revered as the god of affection.

I did some digging to see how he became associated with Valentine's Day, and this is what majority of the scholarly reports I read had to say.

Originally, Cupid wasn't a half naked baby running around with a bow and arrow. He was an intimidating muscular half naked man running around with a bow and arrow.

He shoots you with his arrow; you fall in love, and he looked a little scary doing it.

When the Romans got hold of the story, they didn't think an intimidating man would do only as he was told by his mom. So they worked on it and made him a cute little baby.

Ouch.

Sometimes he is seen wearing a blindfold, because love is blind...or so they say. Wasn't that the point of Shallow Hal?

Some believe that when Valentine's cards started being printed, that is when Cupid became an official part of the holiday. He started popping up on those cards in the 1800s.