Incest

Antiquity

In ancient China, first cousins with the same surnames (i.e. those born to the father's brothers) were not permitted to marry, while those with different surnames could marry (i.e. maternal cousins and paternal cousins born to the father's sisters).^[28]

In Achaemenid Persia, marriages between family members, such as half-siblings, nieces and cousins took place but were not seen as incestuous. However, Greek sources state that brother-sister and father-daughter marriages allegedly took place inside the royal family, yet it remains problematic to determine the reliability of these accounts.^[29] According to Herodotus, Shah Cambyses II supposedly married two of his sisters, Atossa and Roxane.^[30][29] This would have been regarded as illegal. However, Herodotus also states that Cambyses married Otanes' daughter Phaidyme, whilst his contemporary Ctesias names Roxane as Cambyses' wife, but she is not referred to as his sister.^[29] The accusations against Cambyses of committing incest are mentioned as part of his "blasphemous actions", which were designed to illustrate his "madness and vanity". These reports all derive from the same Egyptian source that was antagonistic towards Cambyses, and some of these allegations of "crimes", such as the killing of the Apis bull, have been confirmed as false, which means that the report of Cambyses' supposed incestuous acts is questionable.^[29]

Several of the Egyptian kings married their sisters and had several children with them to continue the royal bloodline. For example, Tutankhamun married his half-sister Ankhesenamun, and was himself the child of an incestuous union between Akhenaten and an unidentified sister-wife. Several scholars, such as Frier et al., state that sibling marriages were widespread among all classes in Egypt during the Graeco-Roman period. Numerous papyri and the Roman census declarations attest to many husbands and wives being brother and sister, of the same father and mother.^{[31][32][33][34]} However, it has also been argued that the available evidence does not support the view that such relations were common.^[35][36][37]

The most famous of these relationships were in the Ptolemaic royal family; Cleopatra VII was married to two of her younger brothers, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV, whilst her mother and father, Cleopatra V and Ptolemy XII, were also brother and sister. Arsinoe II and her younger brother Ptolemy II Philadelphus were the first in the family to participate in a full-sibling marriage, a departure from custom.^[38] A union between full siblings was not the norm in Greek and Macedonian tradition, and prohibited by the laws of at least some cities.^[38][39]

The fable of Oedipus, with a theme of inadvertent incest between a mother and son, ends in disaster and shows ancient taboos against incest, since Oedipus blinds himself in disgust and shame after his incestuous actions. In the 'sequel' to Oedipus, Antigone, his four children are also punished for their parents' incestuousness. Incest appears in the commonly accepted version of the birth of Adonis, when his mother, Myrrha, has sex with her father, Cinyras, during a festival, disguised as a prostitute.

In ancient Greece, Spartan King Leonidas I, hero of the legendary Battle of Thermopylae, was married to his niece Gorgo, daughter of his half-brother Cleomenes I. Greek law allowed marriage between a brother and sister if they had different mothers: for example, some accounts say that Elpinice was for a time married to her half-brother Cimon.^[40]

Incest is mentioned and condemned in Virgil's Aeneid Book VI:^[41] hic thalamum invasit natae vetitosque hymenaeos – "This one invaded a daughter's room and a forbidden sex act".

Roman civil law prohibited marriages within four degrees of consanguinity^[42] but had no degrees of affinity with regard to marriage. Roman civil laws prohibited any marriage between parents and children, either in the ascending or descending line ad infinitum.^[42] Adoption was considered the same as affinity in that an adoptive father could not marry an unemancipated daughter or granddaughter even if the adoption had been dissolved.^[42] Incestuous unions were discouraged and considered nefas (against the laws of gods and man) in ancient Rome. In AD 295, incest was explicitly forbidden by an imperial edict, which divided the concept of incestus into two categories of unequal gravity: the incestus iuris gentium, which was applied to both Romans and non-Romans in the Empire, and the incestus iuris civilis, which concerned only Roman citizens. Therefore, for example, an Egyptian could marry an aunt, but a Roman could not. Despite the act of incest being unacceptable within the Roman Empire, Roman Emperor Caligula is rumored to have had sexual relationships with all three of his sisters (Julia Livilla, Drusilla, and Agrippina the Younger).^[43] Emperor Claudius, after executing his previous wife, married his brother's daughter, Agrippina the Younger, and changed the law to allow an otherwise illegal union.^[44] The law prohibiting marrying a sister's daughter remained.^[45] The taboo against incest in ancient Rome is demonstrated by the fact that politicians would use charges of incest (often false charges) as insults and means of political disenfranchisement.

In Norse mythology, there are themes of brother–sister marriage, a prominent example being between Njörðr and his unnamed sister (perhaps Nerthus), parents of Freyja and Freyr. Loki in turn also accuses Freyja and Freyr of having a sexual relationship.

Biblical references

The earliest Biblical reference to possible incest involves Cain. It was cited that he knew his wife and she conceived and bore Enoch.^[46] A literalist reading of this passage indicates that, during this period, there was no other woman except Eve, or there was an unnamed sister, in which case Cain had an incestuous relationship with his mother or his sister.^[46] According to the Book of Jubilees, Cain married his sister Awan.^[47][48] Later, in Genesis 20^[49] of the Hebrew Bible, the Patriarch Abraham married his half-sister Sarah.^[50] Other references include the passage in 2 Samuel 13 where Amnon, King David's son, rapes his half-sister Tamar.^[51] According to Michael D. Coogan, it would have been perfectly all right for Amnon to have married her, the Bible being inconsistent about prohibiting incest.^[52]

In Genesis 19:30–38, while living in an isolated area after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot's two daughters conspire to inebriate and rape their father due to the lack of available partners to continue his line of descent. Because of intoxication, Lot "perceived not" when his firstborn, and the following night, his younger, daughter lay with him.^[53]

Moses was also born of an incestuous marriage. Exodus 6^[54] details how his father, Amram, was the nephew of his mother, Jochebed.^[46] An account noted that the incestuous relations did not suffer the fate of childlessness, which was the punishment for such couples in Levitical law.^[55] It stated, however, that the incest exposed Moses "to the peril of wild beasts, of the weather, of the water, and more."^[55]

From the Middle Ages onward

Table of prohibited marriages from The Trial of Bastardie by William Clerke. London, 1594

Charles II of Spain was born physically disabled, probably due to centuries of inbreeding in the House of Habsburg, and suffered a particularly pronounced case of Habsburg jaw

According to the records of the Nihon Shoki, during the period from the accession of Emperor Jomei in 629 to that of Emperor Shōmu in 724, seven out of the nine reigning emperors were born of endogamous unions between relatives—including siblings, half-siblings, uncles and nieces, aunts and nephews, and cousins. Many European monarchs were also related due to political marriages, such that many such marriages were between cousins of some degree, uncles and nieces, and so forth, and sometimes first cousins. This was especially true in the Habsburg, Hohenzollern, Savoy, and Bourbon royal houses. However, relations between siblings, which may have been tolerated in other cultures, were considered abhorrent. For example, the false accusation that Anne Boleyn and her brother, George Boleyn, had committed incest was one of the reasons given for both being executed in May 1536. Historians agree that the false accusation against Anne Boleyn and George Boleyn was trumped up in order to ensure the king could go on to marry Jane Seymour.^[56] Sects deemed heretical, such as the Waldensians, were accused of incest.^[57]

Incestuous marriages were also seen in the royal houses of ancient Japan and Korea,^[58] Inca Peru, Ancient Hawaii, and, at times, Central Africa, Mexico, and Thailand.^[59] Like the kings of ancient Egypt, the Inca rulers married their sisters. Huayna Capac, for instance, was the son of Topa Inca Yupanqui and the Inca's sister and wife.^[60]

Half-sibling marriages were found in ancient Japan, such as the marriage of Emperor Bidatsu and his half-sister Empress Suiko.^[61] Japanese Prince Kinashi no Karu had sexual relations with his full sister Princess Karu no Ōiratsume, although the action was regarded as foolish.^[62] In order to prevent the influence of the other families, Korean Goryeo dynasty monarch Gwangjong married his half-sister Daemok in the 10th century.^[63] Marriage with a family member not related by blood was also regarded as contravening morality and was therefore incest. One example of this is the 14th century Chunghye of Goryeo, who raped one of his deceased father's concubines, who was thus regarded to be his mother.^[64]

In a few parts of India, cousin marriage and uncle-niece marriage was common, though it has reduced a lot in the 21st century.^[65][66]

Others

In some Southeast Asian cultures, stories of incest being common among certain ethnicities are sometimes told as expressions of contempt for those ethnicities.^[67]

Marriages between younger brothers and their older sisters were common among the early Udege people.^[68]

Between adults and children

Sex between an adult family member and a child is a form of child sexual abuse,^[94] also known as child incestuous abuse,^[95] and for many years has been the most reported form of incest. Father–daughter and stepfather–stepdaughter sexual abuse are the most commonly reported forms of adult–child incest, with most of the remaining involving a mother or stepmother.^[96] Many studies found that stepfathers tend to be far more likely than biological fathers to engage in this form of incest. One study of adult women in San Francisco estimated that 17% of women were abused by stepfathers and 2% were abused by biological fathers.^[97] Father–son incest is reported less often, but it is not known how close the frequency is to heterosexual incest because it is probably more under-reported.^{[98][99][100][101]} The prevalence of incest between parents and their children is difficult to estimate due to the coercive silencing of victims.

In a 1999 news story, the BBC reported: "Close-knit family life in India masks an alarming amount of sexual abuse of children and teenage girls by family members, a new report suggests. Delhi organisation RAHI said 76% of respondents to its survey had been abused when they were children – 40% of those by a family member."^[102]

According to the National Center for Victims of Crime a large proportion of rape committed in the United States is perpetrated by a family member:

Research indicates that 46% of children who are raped are victims of family members (Langan and Harlow, 1994). The majority of American rape victims (61%) are raped before the age of 18; furthermore, 29% of all rapes occurred when the victim was less than 11 years old. 11% of rape victims are raped by their fathers or stepfathers, and another 16% are raped by other relatives.^[103]

Adults who as children were incestuously victimized by adults often suffer from low self-esteem, difficulties in interpersonal relationships, and sexual dysfunction, and are at an extremely high risk of many mental disorders, including depression, anxiety disorders, phobic avoidance reactions, somatoform disorder, substance abuse, borderline personality disorder, and complex post-traumatic stress disorder.^{[71][104][105]}

The Goler clan in Nova Scotia is a specific instance in which child sexual abuse in the form of forced adult–child and sibling–sibling incest took place over at least three generations.^[106] A number of Goler children were victims of sexual abuse at the hands of fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, sisters, brothers, cousins, and each other. During interrogation by police, several of the adults openly admitted to engaging in many forms of sexual activity, up to and including full intercourse, multiple times with the children. Sixteen adults (both men and women) were charged with hundreds of allegations of incest and sexual abuse of children as young as five.^[106] In July 2012, twelve children were removed from the 'Colt' family (a pseudonym) in New South Wales, Australia, after the discovery of four generations of incest.^[107][108] Child protection workers and psychologists said interviews with the children indicated "a virtual sexual free-for-all".^[109]

While incest between adults and children generally involves the adult as the perpetrator of abuse, there are rare instances of sons sexually assaulting their mothers. These sons are typically mid-adolescent to young adult. Although the mothers may be accused of being seductive with their sons and inviting the sexual contact, this is contrary to evidence.^[110][111] Such accusations can parallel other forms of rape, where, due to victim blaming, a woman is accused of being at fault for the rape. In some cases, mother–son incest is best classified as acquaintance rape of the mother by the adolescent son.^[110][111]

Between children

Childhood sibling–sibling incest is considered to be widespread but rarely reported.^[96] Sibling–sibling incest becomes child-on-child sexual abuse when it occurs without consent, without equality, or as a result of coercion. In this form, it is believed to be the most common form of intrafamilial abuse.^[112] The most commonly reported form of abusive sibling incest is abuse of a younger sibling by an older sibling.^[96]

Sibling abusive incest is most prevalent in families where one or both parents are often absent or emotionally unavailable, with the abusive siblings using incest as a way to assert their power over a weaker sibling.^[113] Absence of the father in particular has been found to be a significant element of most cases of sexual abuse of female children by a brother.^[114]

Between adults

Proponents of incest between consenting adults draw clear boundaries between the behavior of consenting adults on one hand and rape, child molestation, and abusive incest on the other.^[115] However, even consensual relationships such as these are still legally classified as incest^[116] and criminalized in many jurisdictions (although there are certain exceptions). James Roffee, a senior lecturer in criminology at Monash University and former worker on legal responses to familial sexual activity in England and Wales, and Scotland^[117] discussed how the European Convention on Human Rights deems all familial sexual acts to be criminal, even if all parties give their full consent and are knowledgeable to all possible consequences.^[118] He also argues that the use of particular language tools in the legislation manipulates the reader to deem all familial sexual activities as immoral and criminal, even if all parties are consenting adults.^[119]

Cousin relationships

See also: Cousin marriage and List of coupled cousins

Marriages and sexual relationships between first cousins are stigmatized as incest in some cultures, but tolerated in much of the world. Currently, 24 US states prohibit marriages between first cousins, and another seven permit them only under special circumstances.^[132] The United Kingdom permits both marriage and sexual relations between first cousins.^[133]

In some non-Western societies, marriages between close biological relatives account for 20–60% of all marriages.^{[134][135][136]}

First- and second-cousin marriages are rare in Western Europe, North America, and Oceania, accounting for less than 1% of marriages, but reach 9% in South America, East Asia, and South Europe, and about 50% in regions of the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia.^[137] Communities such as the Dhond and the Bhittani of Pakistan clearly prefer marriages between cousins due to the belief they ensure purity of the descent line, provide intimate knowledge of the spouses, and ensure that patrimony will not pass into the hands of "outsiders".^[138] Cross-cousin marriages are preferred among the Yanomami of Brazilian Amazonia, among many other tribal societies identified by anthropologists.

There are some cultures in Asia which stigmatize cousin marriage, in some instances even marriages between second cousins or more remotely related people. This is notably true in the culture of Korea. In South Korea, before 1997, two people with the same last name and clan were prohibited from marrying. In light of this law being held unconstitutional, South Korea now only prohibits up to third cousins (see Article 809 of the Korean Civil Code). Hmong culture prohibits the marriage of anyone with the same last name – to do so would result in being shunned by the entire community, and they are usually stripped of their last name.^[139]

In a review of 48 studies of children parented by cousins, the rate of birth defects was twice that of non-related couples: 4% for cousin couples as opposed to 2% for the general population.^[140]

Judaism

Jewish views on incest is mixed, with some scholars finding support in modern times only for the case of Jewish survival and genetic purity/preservation. The first religious resource found that prohibits incest, is the Torah, in book of Leviticus, chapter 18,^[157] "the children of Israel" – Israelite men and women alike – are forbidden from sexual relations between people who are "near of kin" (verse 6), who are defined as:

• Children and their mothers (verse 7);
• Siblings and half-siblings (verses 9 and 11). Relationships between these are particularly singled out for a curse in Deuteronomy 27, and they are of the only two kinds of incestuous relationships that are among the particularly singled-out relationships – with the other particularly singled-out relationships being ones of non-incestuous family betrayal (cf. verse 20) and bestiality (cf. verse 21);
• Grandparents and grandchildren (verse 10);
• Aunts and nephews, uncles and nieces, etc. (verses 12–14).^[158] Relationships between these are the second kind of relationships that are particularly singled out for a curse in Deuteronomy 27, and the explicit examples of children-in-law and mothers-in-law (verse 23) serve to remind the Israelites that the parents-in-law are also (or at least should also be) the children-in-law's aunts and uncles:^[159]

And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying: 'The tribe of the sons of Joseph speaketh right. This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying: Let them be married to whom they think best; only into the family of the tribe of their father shall they be married. So shall no inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe; for the children of Israel shall cleave every one to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. And every daughter, that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may possess every man the inheritance of his fathers. So shall no inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Israel shall cleave each one to its own inheritance.' Even as the LORD commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad. For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their father's brothers' sons.^[160]

Incestuous relationships, along with the other forbidden relationships that are mentioned in Leviticus 18, are considered so severe among chillulim HaShem, acts which bring shame to the name of God, as to be punishable by death as specified in Leviticus 20.

In the 4th century BC, the Soferim (scribes) declared that there were relationships within which marriage constituted incest, in addition to those mentioned by the Torah. These additional relationships were termed seconds (Hebrew: sheniyyot) and included the wives of a man's grandfather and grandson.^[161] The classical rabbis prohibited marriage between a man and any of these seconds of his, on the basis that doing so would act as a safeguard against infringing the biblical incest rules,^[162] although there was inconclusive debate about exactly what the limits should be for the definition of seconds.^[163]

Marriages that are forbidden in the Torah (with the exception of uncle–niece marriages) were regarded by the rabbis of the Middle Ages as invalid – as if they had never occurred;^[164] any children born to such a couple were regarded as bastards under Jewish law,^[164] and the relatives of the spouse were not regarded as forbidden relations for further marriage.^[165] On the other hand, relationships that were prohibited due to qualifying as seconds and so forth were regarded as wicked but still valid;^[164] while such a couple may have been pressured to divorce, any children of the union were still seen as legitimate.^[164]

Christianity

The New Testament condemns relations between a man "and his father's wife" (1 Corinthians 5:1–5). Protestant Christians who adopt the Old Testament as part of their rule of faith and practice distinguish between the ceremonial law and the moral law given to Moses, with the demands of the ceremonial law being fulfilled by Christ's atoning death. Protestants view Leviticus 18:6–20 as part of the moral law and still applicable, thus condemning sexual/marriage relations between a man and his mother, sister, stepsister, or stepmother (if a man has more than one wife, it is forbidden for a son to have relations with or marry any of his father's wives), aunt, granddaughter, or his brother's wife. Leviticus 18 goes on to condemn relations between a man and the daughter of a woman he is having relations with and the sister of a woman he has had sexual relations with while the first sister is still alive.

The Book of Common Prayer of the Anglican Communion allows marriages up to and including first cousins.^[166]

The Catholic Church regards incest as a sin against the Sacrament of Matrimony.^[167] For the Catholic Church, at the heart of the immorality of incest is the corruption and disordering of proper family relations. These disordered relationships take on a particularly grave and immoral character when it becomes child sexual abuse.

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

2388 Incest designates intimate relations between relatives or in-laws within a degree that prohibits marriage between them. St. Paul stigmatizes this especially grave offense: 'It is actually reported that there is immorality among you...for a man is living with his father's wife...In the name of the Lord Jesus...you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh....' Incest corrupts family relationships and marks a regression toward animality. 2389 Connected to incest is any sexual abuse perpetrated by adults on children or adolescents entrusted to their care. The offense is compounded by the scandalous harm done to the physical and moral integrity of the young, who will remain scarred by it all their lives; and the violation of responsibility for their upbringing.^[168]

Islam

Islam strongly prohibits and outlaws inbreeding and incest, which is regarded as traits of the "Jahiliyyah" generations (Uneducated/Ignorant Generation). The Quran gives specific rules condemning incest, which prohibit a human from marrying or having sexual relationships with:

• his sister, his half-sister, a woman who has nursed from the same woman as him, and his sister-in-law (wife's sister) while still married. Half relations are as sacred as full relations;^[169]
• his daughter, his stepdaughter (if the marriage to her mother was consummated), his daughter-in-law.^[169]
• his niece (child of sibling);^[169]
• either parent's sister (aunt);^[169]

Cousin marriage is discouraged. Historically especially before Islam, in certain regions, widespread in the Middle East.^[170]

Although Islam does not specifically cite punishments for cousin marriage, there are hadiths attributed to Muhammad calling for distance from the marriage of relatives.^[171][172]

Zoroastrian

In Ancient Persia, incest between cousins is a blessed virtue, although, in some sources, incest is believed to be related to that of parent–child or brother–sister.^[173] Under Zoroastrianism, royalty, clergy, and commoners practiced incest, though the extent in the lattermost class was unknown.^[174][173] This tradition was called Xwedodah^{[175][176][177]} (Avestan: Xᵛaētuuadaθa).^[174][178] The tradition was considered so sacred that the bodily fluids produced by an incestuous couple were thought to have curative powers.^[173] For instance, the Vendidad advised corpse-bearers to purify themselves with a mixture of the urine of a married incestuous couple.^[173] Friedrich Nietzsche, in his book The Birth of Tragedy, cited that among Zoroastrians, a wise priest is born only by Xvaetvadatha.^[179]

To what extent Xvaetvadatha was practiced in Sasanian Iran and before – especially outside the royal and noble families ("dynastic incest") and, perhaps, the clergy – and whether practices ascribed to them can be assumed to be characteristic of the general population is not clear. There is a lack of genealogies and census material on the frequency of Xvaetvadatha.^[180][181] Evidence from Dura-Europos, however, combined with that of the Jewish and Christian sources citing actual cases under the Sasanians, strengthens the evidence of the Zoroastrian texts. In the post-Sasanian Zoroastrian literature, Xvaetvadatha is said to refer to marriages between cousins instead, which have always been relatively common.^[182] It has been observed that such incestuous acts received a great deal of glorification as a religious practice and, in addition to being condemned by foreigners (though the reliability of these accusations is questionable since accusations of incest were a common way of denigrating other groups),^[183] were considered a great challenge by their own proponents, with accounts suggesting that four copulations was deemed a rare achievement worthy of eternal salvation. It has been suggested that because taking up incestuous relations was a great personal challenge, seemingly repugnant even to Zoroastrians of the time, it served as an honest signal of commitment and devotion to religious ideals.^[184][181]

Hinduism

Rigveda regards incest to be "evil".^[185] Hinduism speaks of incest in abhorrent terms. Hindus believe there are both karmic and practical bad effects of incest and thus practice strict rules of both endogamy and exogamy in relation to the family tree (gotra) or bloodline (Pravara). Marriage within the gotra (swagotra marriage) is banned under the rule of exogamy in the traditional matrimonial system.^[186] People within the gotra are regarded as kin, and marrying such a person would be thought of as incest. Marriage with paternal cousins (a form of parallel-cousin relationship) is strictly prohibited. Traditional Hindu laws of marriage suggest that, between a man and a woman who are about to marry, there should be no common ancestor (gotra) between the groom and the bride for up to 6 generations on the father's side of the groom and bride and up to 4 generations on the mothers' side of the groom and bride. Some orthodox Hindus might extend this limit to up to 8 generations on the father's side and six generations on the mother's side (for both the bride and groom).

Although marriages between persons having the same gotra are generally frowned upon,^[187] how this is defined may vary regionally. Depending on the culture and caste of the population in the region, marriage may be restricted up to seven generations of gotra of father, mother, and grandmother. Marriage is banned within the same local community in a few rural areas.^[188]

Stoicism

The founder of Stoicism, Zeno of Citium, stated that incest was permissible in Republic, as did the later prominent Stoic philosopher Chrysippus. However, Zeno only advocates for incest under unique circumstances, such as procreating with one's ailing mother to beget "glorious" children, thus comforting her. Otherwise, incest is condemned as being contrary to Nature. Zeno further condemns incest from a moral and psychological perspective, considering it to be a sign of Plato's tyrannical soul, defined as a soul that is governed by illimitable desire. He uses Oedipus as a tragic example.^[189] Nonetheless, later Stoic disciples by the 1st century BC downplayed the pro-incest advocacy, accusing Zeno of being "young and thoughtless" when he wrote Republic.^[190]