Incest

Prohibited Sexual Behavior and Sexual Violence

Adult Sexual Contact with Children: Incest


Osiris and Isis
Osiris, the ancient Egyptian god of the dead, was married to his sister Isis, the goddess of life (shown here with their son, Horus). Their example was followed by some pharaohs who made royal incest a tradition. The exact origin and meaning of this tradition are still being disputed, and it is also unclear how long and how strictly it was observed. However, we do know that the famous Cleopatra, a daughter of Ptolemy XII, was successively married to her younger brothers Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV.

Since time immemorial, the human race has observed the “incest taboo”, i.e. the prohibition of sexual intercourse between close relatives. Exceptions have been found only in ancient Egypt and have been reported about ancient Hawai’i and some other Pacific and pre-Columbian American cultures. However, even here the exceptions applied only to royal families and certain members of the upper classes.
The origins of this taboo are not entirely clear, because it precedes any adequate genetic knowledge. Therefore, the possible negative effects of inbreeding cannot have been the driving motive. Some scholars have speculated that the motive was simply to prevent sexual jealousies among relatives who had to live and work together. In any case, the prohibition did prevent marriages within the immediate family (endogamy) and forced people to marry outside their families (exogamy). This way, otherwise unrelated households became related and formed new alliances. As this process continued, an ever-enlarging network of allied families laid the foundations for their collective economic, cultural, and political progress. In this sense,
the incest taboo is the source of any wider human solidarity and the bedrock of all complex social systems.

Zeus and Hera
Zeus, the supreme god of ancient Greece and his wife Hera were also brother and sister. However, for the Greeks, this was not an example to be followed. Source: FCIT

[Course 6] [Description] [How to use it] [Introduction] [Development] [Basic Types] [Variations] [Prohibited Behavior] [Sex with Children] [Prostitution] [Sexual Violence] [Additional Reading] [Examination]