If there is one constant in human history, it’s the worry that we aren’t having quite as much sex as we could be. In the quest for more heat, people have tried countless tricks – even the 10 amazing aphrodisiacs listed here – many of which border on the ludicrous.
10 Amazing Aphrodisiacs That Shaped Desire Through the Ages
10 Pliny’s Potent Potions
Pliny the Elder, that Roman polymath who tried to cram all human knowledge into a single tome, offers a smorgasbord of libido‑boosting recipes in his Natural History. Among the many bizarre cures, he recommends a bat’s blood draped on wool and placed under a woman’s head to spark desire, and a goose’s tongue taken with food or drink for the same effect.
When the male suffers from low desire, Pliny suggests more exotic stimulants: the right lobe of a vulture’s lungs sewn into crane skin, a mixture of five pigeon‑egg yolks swirled with honey and a denarius of hog’s lard, sparrow eggs with food, or even a rooster’s right testicle fixed to ram’s hide. Each of these, he claims, fires up masculine vigor.
If the concoctions prove too stimulating, Pliny also notes a countermeasure: a lizard drowned in a man’s own urine acts as an antaphrodisiac, dampening the fire of passion—though the image of a lizard swimming in a toilet may be enough to put anyone off.
9 Ancient Greek Bulbs
Sympathetic magic, the idea that “like cures like,” underpinned much of Greek folk medicine. The Greeks believed that plant bulbs resembling testes could transfer their potency to the eater. Hence, garlic, onions, and wild bulbs were touted as sexual stimulants, despite the obvious downside of smelling like a kitchen battlefield.
Leeks, with their long, phallic shape, were also thought to impart stiffness and vigor to men who consumed them. The general principle was clear: ingest what looks like the organ you wish to empower, and the gods would grant the gift.
8 Gladiator Sweat
Gladiators were the ancient world’s super‑stars, and their fan clubs adored every aspect of them, even their bodily fluids. Sweat collected from these muscular fighters was bottled and sold as a luxury commodity.
Romans used a strigil—a scraping tool—to wipe away sweat and grime in the baths. Servants would scrape the fighters’ skin, collect the perspiration, and bottle it. Some believed the essence could rejuvenate the skin, while others swore it acted as an aphrodisiac, transferring the gladiator’s masculine allure to the user through sympathetic magic.
7 Ambergris
Legend has it that the great lover Casanova slipped grated ambergris— a waxy, fragrant substance from sperm whales—into his chocolate mousse to heighten his romantic exploits. Ambergris, excreted by whales via defecation or occasional vomiting, has long been prized for its rarity and its use in high‑end perfumery.
Beyond perfume, ambergris was believed to be a potent aphrodisiac. Modern research on ambrein, a component of ambergris, showed that male rats experienced increased sexual activity after exposure, lending some scientific credence to the old claim.
6 Spanish Fly
Spanish fly, perhaps the most infamous aphrodisiac, is actually derived from crushed blister beetles, not flies. The beetles produce cantharidin, a toxic compound that creates blisters when predators attack.
Cantharidin can induce priapism—an agonizingly prolonged erection—in men, which likely fueled the belief that it was a bedroom helper. However, the substance is highly poisonous and can be fatal, making it more of a danger than a desire‑enhancer.
5 The Kama Sutra
The Kama Sutra is far more than a catalog of contortion‑friendly positions; it is a comprehensive guide to love, pleasure, and the art of seduction. Written in third‑century India, it even lists culinary aphrodisiacs.
One chapter praises warm, sweet milk as a top sexual food, recommending it be mixed with various ingredients and even served with boiled goat testicles. The text also endorses garlic, echoing Greek beliefs, and introduces ashwagandha—a member of the deadly nightshade family, also called poison gooseberry. Its Indian name translates to “the smell of a horse,” owing to its pungent, horse‑urine‑like scent.
4 Artichoke
According to myth, Zeus fell for a mortal named Cynara, transformed her into an artichoke as punishment, and the plant thereafter became linked with sexual potency. Greek lore suggested that eating artichokes could not only boost libido but also ensure male offspring.
In 17th‑century Sweden, wives reportedly fed their husbands artichokes to rekindle their marital passions, using the vegetable as a culinary nudge toward the bedroom.
3 Lettuce
For over three millennia, ancient Egyptians revered lettuce as a sexual stimulant. The fertility god Min, forever depicted with an erect phallus, was shown holding a long stalk of lettuce, symbolizing virility. Priests even carried lettuce during processions, believing its white sap echoed the fluid of reproduction.
Another Egyptian tale tells of a contest between Horus and Set, where Horus tricked Set into ejaculating onto a lettuce leaf, which Set then ate—an act interpreted as a symbolic victory for Horus and a testament to lettuce’s erotic power.
2 Anglo‑Saxon Aphrodisiacs
Surviving Anglo‑Saxon medical texts reveal a surprisingly sophisticated approach to desire. Bald’s Leechbook advises that the same herb—agrimony—can either dampen or spark lust depending on how it’s prepared: boiled in foreign ale for the overly lustful, or in milk for the unlustful, often combined with ewe’s milk, horse parsley, and a type of orchid known as Fornet’s hand.
Another Old English treatise prescribes animal‑based stimulants: a mixture of buck goat gall, incense, and nettle seed to rub on a woman’s genitals, and boar gall paired with testicles to invigorate a man’s desire. These bold recipes illustrate the Anglo‑Saxon willingness to experiment with nature’s more… intimate offerings.
1 Avicenna’s Birdbrained Cake
Avicenna, the famed Persian physician and philosopher, concocted a legendary aphrodisiac cake that would make even the faint‑hearted quiver. His recipe calls for the brains of fifty birds and doves, yolks from twenty bird eggs, ten spring chicken egg yolks, crushed lamb meat juice, roasted onions, carrots, and a prodigious amount of butter—all baked into a single, potent loaf.
Jewish scholar Maimonides later adapted the formula, omitting the bird brains but preserving the rest, and served the resulting pastry to a patient who reportedly experienced the desired effects.