The Greek playwright Aristophanes mentions perfumes in his comedy Lysistrata in connection with sexual enticements. Horace the Roman lyric poet tells of an old lecher ‘scented with nard.’
Ambergris and civet were immensely popular. An ointment, extracted from spikenard, was known as foliatum: another, as nicerotiana. Cinnamon, sweet marjoram, myrrh, were in use. So with aromatic oils. Perfumes, in fact, are regularly mentioned in erotic and sexual situations and contexts. The corpus of the Arabian Nights contains many episodes involving the use and impact of scents. The Biblical Song of Songs too makes apposite reference to the subject:
a bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me ...
ointment and perfumes rejoice the heart ...
perfumes and sweet spices ...
beds of aromatic spices ...
Ben Jonson, the English dramatist, has Volpone, in the comedy of that name, offer Celia perfumed baths:
The milk of unicorns, and panthers’ breath
Gathered in bags, and mixed with Cretan wines.
Our drink shall be prepared gold and amber.