Editing Incest (section)

==History==
===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).<ref>{{cite book |last=Gulik |first=Robert Hans van |title=Sexual Life in Ancient China: a Preliminary Survey of Chinese Sex and Society from ca. 1500 B.C. till 1644 A.D. |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |year=1974 |page=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u9MUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA19 |isbn=978-90-04-03917-9}}</ref>

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.{{sfn|Brosius|2000}} According to [[Herodotus]], Shah [[Cambyses II]] supposedly married two of his sisters, [[Atossa]] and Roxane.{{sfn|Dandamayev|1990|pp=726–729}}{{sfn|Brosius|2000}} This would have been regarded as illegal. However, Herodotus also states that Cambyses married [[Otanes]]' daughter [[Phaedymia|Phaidyme]], whilst his contemporary [[Ctesias]] names Roxane as Cambyses' wife, but she is not referred to as his sister.{{sfn|Brosius|2000}} 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.{{sfn|Brosius|2000}}

Several of the Egyptian [[king]]s 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 [[papyrus|papyri]] and the Roman census declarations attest to many husbands and wives being brother and sister, of the same father and mother.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=N. |title=Life in Egypt under Roman Rule |isbn=978-0-19-814848-7 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press|Clarendon Press]] |year=1983 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/lifeinegyptunder0000lewi }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Frier |first1=Bruce W. |last2=Bagnall |first2=Roger S. |author2-link=Roger S. Bagnall |title=The Demography of Roman Egypt |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge, UK |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-521-46123-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Shaw |first=B. D. |title=Explaining Incest: Brother-Sister Marriage in Graeco-Roman Egypt |journal=Man |series=New Series |volume=27 |issue=2 |year=1992 |pages=267–299 |jstor=2804054 |doi=10.2307/2804054}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Hopkins |first=Keith |author-link=Keith Hopkins |year=1980 |title=Brother-Sister Marriage in Roman Egypt |url=http://humweb.ucsc.edu/jklynn/ancientwomen/HopkinsBrotherSisterMarriage.pdf |journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History |volume=22 |pages=303–354 |doi=10.1017/S0010417500009385 |issue=3 |s2cid=143698328 |access-date=21 July 2013 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180202/http://humweb.ucsc.edu/jklynn/ancientwomen/HopkinsBrotherSisterMarriage.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, it has also been argued that the available evidence does not support the view that such relations were common.<ref>Walter Scheidel. 2004. "Ancient Egyptian Sibling Marriage and the Westermarck Effect", in ''Inbreeding, Incest, and the Incest Taboo: the state of knowledge at the turn of the century'' Arthur Wolf and William Durham (eds) Stanford University Press. pp. 93–108</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Huebner | first1 = Sabine R | author-link = Sabine R. Huebner | year = 2007 | title = 'Brother-Sister' Marriage in Roman Egypt: a Curiosity of Humankind or a Widespread Family Strategy?. | journal = The Journal of Roman Studies | volume = 97 | pages = 21–49 | doi = 10.3815/000000007784016070 }}</ref><ref>Huebner, Sabine R. The family in Roman Egypt: a comparative approach to intergenerational solidarity and conflict. Cambridge University Press, 2013.</ref>

The most famous of these relationships were in the [[Ptolemaic dynasty|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 of Egypt|Cleopatra V]] and [[Ptolemy XII]], were also brother and sister. [[Arsinoe II]] and her younger brother [[Ptolemy II|Ptolemy II Philadelphus]] were the first in the family to participate in a full-sibling marriage, a departure from custom.<ref name="Familiarity Breeds: Incest and the">{{cite journal |last1=Ager |first1=Sheila L. |title=Familiarity Breeds: Incest and the Ptolemaic Dynasty |journal=The Journal of Hellenic Studies |date=2005 |volume=125 |pages=1–34 |doi=10.1017/S0075426900007084 |jstor=30033343 |pmid=19681234  |issn=0075-4269}}</ref> A union between full siblings was counternormative in Greek and Macedonian tradition, and prohibited by the laws of at least some cities.<ref name="Familiarity Breeds: Incest and the"/><ref name="The Routledge Companion to Women and Monarchy in the Ancient Mediterranean World">{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= The Routledge Companion to Women and Monarchy in the Ancient Mediterranean World|publisher= Taylor & Francis|date= 9 November 2020|isbn= 9780429783982}}</ref>

[[File:Tutankhamun and his wife B. C. 1330.jpg|thumb|Egyptian king [[Tutankhamun]] married his half-sister [[Ankhesenamun]].]]

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 (Sophocles play)|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]], [[Ancient Sparta|Spartan King]] [[Leonidas I]], hero of the legendary [[Battle of Thermopylae]], was married to his [[niece]] [[Gorgo, Queen of Sparta|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]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Bios/Elpinice.html |title=Elpinice |last=Lahanas |first=Michael |year=2006 |encyclopedia=Hellenic World encyclopaedia |publisher=Hellenica |access-date=6 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090921025414/http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Bios/Elpinice.html |archive-date=21 September 2009 }}</ref>

Incest is mentioned and condemned in [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'' Book VI:<ref>[http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_text_vergil_aeneid_latin_6.htm Vergil Aeneid Book VI in Latin: The descent to the Underworld] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921102854/http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_text_vergil_aeneid_latin_6.htm |date=21 September 2011 }}. Ancienthistory.about.com (15 June 2010). Retrieved on 2011-10-01.</ref> ''hic thalamum invasit natae vetitosque hymenaeos''{{nbsp}}{{ndash}} "This one invaded a daughter's room and a forbidden sex act".

[[File:Yaxchilán lintel.jpg|thumb|Maya king [[Itzamnaaj B'alam II|Shield Jaguar II]] with his [[avunculate marriage|aunt-wife]], [[Lady Xoc]] AD 709]]

[[Roman law|Roman civil law]] prohibited marriages within four degrees of consanguinity<ref name="SRCL514">Patrick Colquhoun, ''A Summary of the Roman Civil Law, Illustrated by Commentaries on and Parallels from the Mosaic, Canon, Mohammedan, English, and Foreign Law'' (London: Wm. Benning & Co., 1849), p. 513-4</ref> 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 [[:wikt:ad infinitum|ad infinitum]].<ref name="SRCL514"/> Adoption was considered the same as affinity in that an adoptive father could not marry an [[:wikt:unemancipated|unemancipated]] daughter or granddaughter even if the adoption had been dissolved.<ref name="SRCL514"/> 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 (sister of Caligula)|Drusilla]], and [[Agrippina the Younger]]).{{sfn|Potter|2007|p=62}} 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.{{sfn|Potter|2007|p=66}} The law prohibiting marrying a sister's daughter remained.<ref>{{cite book |first=Judith Evans |last=Grubbs |title=Women and the Law in the Roman Empire: a Sourcebook on Marriage, Divorce and Widowhood |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4X8HXDwMHawC&pg=PA137 |access-date=7 November 2011 |year=2002 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-15240-2 |pages=137–}}</ref> 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{{ndash}}sister marriage, a prominent example being between [[Njörðr]] and his [[Sister-wife of Njörðr|unnamed sister]] (perhaps [[Nerthus]]), parents of [[Freyja]] and [[Freyr]]. [[Loki]] in turn also accuses Freyja and Freyr of having a sexual relationship.

===Biblical references===
{{Main|Incest in the Bible}}
The earliest Biblical reference to possible incest involves Cain. It was cited that he knew his wife and she conceived and bore Enoch.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Forensic and Medico-legal Aspects of Sexual Crimes and Unusual Sexual Practices|last=Aggrawal|first=Anil|publisher=CRC Press|year=2009|isbn=9781420043082|location=Boca Raton, FL|pages=320}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":1" /> According to the [[Book of Jubilees]], [[Cain]] married his sister [[Awan (religious figure)|Awan]].<ref>Cain and Abel in Text and Tradition: Jewish and Christian Interpretations of the First Sibling Rivalry, John Byron – 2011, page 27</ref><ref>The Empowerment of Women in the Book of Jubilees – Page 17, Betsy Halpern Amaru – 1999</ref> Later, in Genesis 20<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible,'' {{bibleverse||Genesis|20:12|HE}}</ref> of the [[Hebrew Bible]], the [[Patriarch]] [[Abraham]] married his half-sister [[Sarah]].{{sfn|Ska|2009|pp=26–31}} Other references include the passage in 2 Samuel 13 where [[Amnon]], King [[David]]'s son, rapes his half-sister [[Tamar (2 Samuel)|Tamar]].<ref>''Bible'', {{bibleverse|2|Samuel|13|NIV}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Coogan|first=Michael|title=God and Sex. What the Bible Really Says|url=https://archive.org/details/godsexwhatbi00coog|url-access=registration|quote=god and sex.|access-date=5 May 2011|edition=1st|year=2010|publisher=Twelve. Hachette Book Group|location=New York, Boston|isbn=978-0-446-54525-9|oclc=505927356|pages=[https://archive.org/details/godsexwhatbi00coog/page/112 112]–113}}</ref>

In Genesis 19:30{{ndash}}38, while living in an isolated area after the destruction of [[Sodom and Gomorrah]], [[Lot (biblical person)|Lot]]'s two daughters conspire to inebriate and rape their father due to the lack of available partners to continue his [[Lineage (anthropology)|line of descent]]. Because of intoxication, Lot "perceived not" when his firstborn, and the following night his younger, daughter lay with him.<ref>''Bible'', Genesis 19:32–35</ref>

Moses was also born of an incestuous marriage. Exodus 6<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'', {{bibleverse||Exodus|6:20|HE}}</ref> details how his father, [[Amram]], was the nephew of his mother, [[Jochebed]].<ref name=":1" /> An account noted that the incestuous relations did not suffer the fate of childlessness, which was the punishment for such couples in Levitical law.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Sex, Marriage, and Family in John Calvin's Geneva: Courtship, Engagement, and Marriage|last1=John|first1=Witte Jr.|last2=Kingdon|first2=Robert|publisher=William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|year=2005|isbn=9780802848031|location=Grand Rapids|pages=321}}</ref> It stated, however, that the incest exposed Moses "to the peril of wild beasts, of the weather, of the water, and more."<ref name=":2" />

===From the Middle Ages onward===
{{multiple image
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 | image1 = W.Clerke table.PNG
 | caption1 = Table of prohibited marriages from ''The Trial of Bastardie'' by [[William Clerke (writer)|William Clerke]]. London, 1594
 | image2 = Rey_Carlos_II.jpg
 | caption2 = [[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]] 
}}
Many European monarchs were 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 [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]], [[House of Hohenzollern|Hohenzollern]], [[House of Savoy|Savoy]], and [[House of Bourbon|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, 2nd Viscount Rochford|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]].<ref>[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-many-myths-of-lady-rochford-the-tudor-noblewoman-who-supposedly-betrayed-george-and-anne-boleyn-180980520/] Solly, Meilan. "The Myths of Lady Rochford, the Tudor Noblewoman Who Supposedly Betrayed George and Anne Boleyn". ''Smithsonian Magazine''. August 4, 2022.</ref> Sects deemed heretical, such as the [[Waldensians]], were accused of incest.<ref name="Gow Desjardins Pageau 2016 p. 64">{{cite book | last1=Gow | first1=A.C. | last2=Desjardins | first2=R.B. | last3=Pageau | first3=F.V. | title=The Arras Witch Treatises: Johannes Tinctor's Invectives contre la secte de vauderie and the Recollectio casus, status et condicionis Valdensium ydolatrarum by the Anonymous of Arras (1460) | publisher=Penn State University Press | series=Magic in History Sourcebooks | year=2016 | isbn=978-0-271-07750-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PW8RDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT64 | access-date=2023-04-01 | page=64}}</ref>

Incestuous marriages were also seen in the royal houses of ancient [[Japan]] and Korea,<ref>Smith, George Patrick (1998). [https://books.google.com/books?id=HLPDS2UXaqAC&pg=PA143 ''Family Values and the New Society: Dilemmas of the 21st Century'']. [[Greenwood Publishing Group]] via [[Google Books]]. p. 143.</ref> Inca [[Peru]], [[Ancient Hawaii]], and, at times, Central Africa, [[Mexico]], and [[Thailand]].<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20100822132434/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/09/tut-dna/dobbs-text/2 The Risks and Rewards of Royal Incest]". National Geographic Magazine.</ref> 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.<ref>Sarmiento de Gamboa, Pedro. [https://books.google.com/books?id=T0q_A1BaSVsC&pg=PA151 ''The History of the Incas.''] Austin: University of Texas Press, 2007. p.171. {{ISBN|978-0-292-71485-4}}.</ref>

Half-sibling marriages were found in ancient Japan, such as the marriage of [[Emperor Bidatsu]] and his half-sister [[Empress Suiko]].<ref>Lloyd, Arthur (2004). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Pl_7PollB60C&pg=PA180 ''The Creed Of Half Japan: Historical Sketches Of Japanese Buddhism'']. [[Kessinger Publishing]] via [[Google Books]]. p. 180.</ref> Japanese [[Prince Kinashi no Karu]] had sexual relations with his full sister Princess Karu no Ōiratsume, although the action was regarded as foolish.<ref>[[Edwin Cranston|Cranston, Edwin A.]] (1998). [https://books.google.com/books?id=KqWjwalbmx4C&pg=PA805 ''A Waka Anthology: The Gem-Glistening Cup'']. [[Stanford University Press]] via [[Google Books]]. p. 805.</ref> In order to prevent the influence of the other families, Korean [[Goryeo]] dynasty monarch [[Gwangjong of Goryeo|Gwangjong]] married his half-sister Daemok in the 10th century.<ref>Shultz, Edward J. (2000). [https://books.google.com/books?id=fM9sEyxzVq8C&pg=PA169 ''Generals and Scholars: Military Rule in Medieval Korea'']. [[University of Hawaii Press]], p. 169.</ref> 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 [[Princess Gyeonghwa|father's concubines]], who was thus regarded to be his mother.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Asogawa Shizuo 麻生川静男 |title=Hontōni hisan'na Chōsen-shi 'kōraishisetsuyō' o yomi kai |script-title=ja:本当に悲惨な朝鮮史 「高麗史節要」を読み解く |publisher=KADOKAWA |year=2017 |isbn=978-4-04-082109-2|pages=58–59|language=ja}}</ref>

In a few parts of India, cousin marriage and uncle-niece marriage was common, though it has reduced a lot in the 21st century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wal |first=Ruchi Mishra S. |title=Ency. Of Health Nutrition And Family Wel.(3 Vol) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=89N78kYLFNQC |year=2000 |publisher=Sarup & Sons |isbn=978-81-7625-171-6 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=89N78kYLFNQC&pg=PA166 166]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=United Nations Publications |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zseZeGgQlDwC |title=Asia-Pacific Population Journal |publisher=United Nations Publications |year=2002 |isbn=978-92-1-120340-0 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=zseZeGgQlDwC&pg=PA23 23] }}{{dead link|date=May 2024}}</ref>

===Others===
In some Southeast Asian cultures, stories of incest being common among certain ethnicities are sometimes told as expressions of contempt for those ethnicities.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Edmunds |first1=Lowell |last2=Dundes |first2=Alan |title=Oedipus: A Folklore Casebook |date=1995 |publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press |isbn=978-0-299-14853-9 |page=32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m-3Hyd4ms_YC&q=Kalangs+incest&pg=PA32 |language=en}}</ref>

Marriages between younger brothers and their older sisters were common among the early [[Udege people]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Deusen|first= Kira|date= 2 February 2011|title= Flying Tiger: Women Shamans and Storytellers of the Amur|publisher= McGill Queen's Press|page= 25|isbn= 978-0773521551}}</ref>