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Incest ( ) is sex between kinship, such as a brother, sister, or parent. (2026). 9781405190060 ISBN 9781405190060 This typically includes any kind of sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by lineage. It is condemned and considered immoral in many societies. It can lead to an increased risk of genetic disorders in children in case of pregnancy from incestuous sex.
The incest taboo is one of the most widespread of all cultural , both in present and in past societies. Most modern societies have laws regarding incest or social restrictions on closely consanguineous marriages. In societies where it is illegal, consensual adult incest is seen by some as a victimless crime. Some cultures extend the incest taboo to relatives with no consanguinity, such as Milk kinship, stepsiblings, and adoptive siblings, albeit sometimes with less intensity.Encyclopedia of Love in World Religions – Volume 1 – Page 321, Yudit Kornberg Greenberg – 2008Language and Social Relations – Page 379, Asif Agha – 2007. Third-degree relatives (such as half-aunt, half-nephew, first cousin) on average have 12.5% common genetic heritage, and sexual relations between them are viewed differently in various cultures, from being discouraged to being socially acceptable.The Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders and Birth Defects – Page 101, James Wynbrandt, Mark D. Ludman – 2009. Children of incestuous relationships have been regarded as illegitimate, and are still so regarded in some societies today. In most cases, the parents did not have the option to marry to remove that status, as incestuous marriages were, and are, normally also prohibited.
A common justification for prohibiting incest is avoiding inbreeding, a collection of genetic disorders suffered by the children of parents with a close genetic relationship. Such children are at greater risk of congenital disorders, developmental and physical disability, and death; that risk is proportional to their parents' coefficient of relationship, a measure of how closely the parents are related genetically. However, cultural anthropologists have noted that inbreeding avoidance cannot form the sole basis for the incest taboo because the boundaries of the incest prohibition vary widely between cultures and not necessarily in ways that maximize the avoidance of inbreeding.
In some societies, such as those of Ancient Egypt, brother-sister, father-daughter, mother-son, cousin-cousin, aunt-nephew, uncle-niece, and other combinations of relations within a royal family were married as a means of perpetuating the royal lineage, or echoing the practices in their creation myths, and were considered normal.Maurice Godelier, Métamorphoses de la parenté, 2004 Some societies have different views about what constitutes illegal or immoral incest. For example, in Samoa, a man was permitted to marry his older sister, but not his younger sister. However, sexual relations with a first-degree relative (meaning a parent, sibling, or child) were almost universally forbidden in connection with multiple cases of disorders and organ failures. The Tapestry of Culture: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Ninth Ed., Abraham Rosman, Paula G. Rubel, Maxine Weisgrau, 2009, AltaMira Press, p. 101
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. According to Herodotus, Shah Cambyses II supposedly married two of his sisters, Atossa and Roxane. This would have been regarded as illegal. However, Herodotus also states that Cambyses married Otanes' daughter Phaedymia, whilst his contemporary Ctesias names Roxane as Cambyses' wife, but she is not referred to as his sister. 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.
Several of the Egyptian 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 and the Roman census declarations attest to many husbands and wives being brother and sister, of the same father and mother. (1994). 9780521461238, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521461238 However, it has also been argued that the available evidence does not support the view that such relations were common.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. 93–108Huebner, Sabine R. The family in Roman Egypt: a comparative approach to intergenerational solidarity and conflict. Cambridge University Press, 2013.
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 were the first in the family to participate in a full-sibling marriage, a departure from custom. A union between full siblings was not the norm in Greek and Macedonian tradition, and prohibited by the laws of at least some cities. (2020). 9780429783982, Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780429783982
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, Ancient Sparta 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.
Incest is mentioned and condemned in Virgil's Aeneid Book VI: Vergil Aeneid Book VI in Latin: The descent to the Underworld . Ancienthistory.about.com (15 June 2010). Retrieved on 2011-10-01. hic thalamum invasit natae vetitosque hymenaeos "This one invaded a daughter's room and a forbidden sex act".
Roman law prohibited marriages within four degrees of consanguinityPatrick 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 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. 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. 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). 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. The law prohibiting marrying a sister's daughter remained. 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 brothersister 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.
In Genesis 19:3038, 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. Bible, Genesis 19:32–35
Moses was also born of an incestuous marriage. Exodus 6 Hebrew-English Bible, details how his father, Amram, was the nephew of his mother, Jochebed. An account noted that the incestuous relations did not suffer the fate of childlessness, which was the punishment for such couples in Levitical law. (2026). 9780802848031, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 9780802848031 It stated, however, that the incest exposed Moses "to the peril of wild beasts, of the weather, of the water, and more."
Incestuous marriages were also seen in the royal houses of ancient Japan and Korea,Smith, George Patrick (1998). Family Values and the New Society: Dilemmas of the 21st Century. Greenwood Publishing Group via Google Books. p. 143. Inca Peru, Ancient Hawaii, and, at times, Central Africa, Mexico, and Thailand." The Risks and Rewards of Royal Incest". National Geographic Magazine. 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.Sarmiento de Gamboa, Pedro. The History of the Incas. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2007. p.171. .
Half-sibling marriages were found in ancient Japan, such as the marriage of Emperor Bidatsu and his half-sister Empress Suiko.Lloyd, Arthur (2004). The Creed Of Half Japan: Historical Sketches Of Japanese Buddhism. Kessinger Publishing via Google Books. p. 180. Japanese Prince Kinashi no Karu had sexual relations with his full sister Princess Karu no Ōiratsume, although the action was regarded as foolish.Edwin Cranston (1998). A Waka Anthology: The Gem-Glistening Cup. Stanford University Press via Google Books. p. 805. In order to prevent the influence of the other families, Korean Goryeo dynasty monarch Gwangjong married his half-sister Daemok in the 10th century.Shultz, Edward J. (2000). Generals and Scholars: Military Rule in Medieval Korea. University of Hawaii Press, p. 169. 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.
In a few parts of India, cousin marriage and uncle-niece marriage was common, though it has reduced a lot in the 21st century.United Nations Publications (2026). 9789211203400, United Nations Publications. . ISBN 9789211203400
Marriages between younger brothers and their older sisters were common among the early Udege people.
Fatherdaughter incest was for many years the most commonly reported and studied form of incest. Aeneid by Virgil, Book VI: " hic thalamum invasit natae vetitosque hymenaeos;" = "this [man being punished in Hades] invaded a daughter's private room and a forbidden marital relationship."
Motherson incest is rarely reported. According to Catanzarite (1980), between 1965 and 1980 only a handful such cases were documented. Catanzarite attributes this to selection bias and the lack of physical evidence in such cases.Catanzarite, Valerian A., and Sam Edward Combs. "Mother-son incest." JAMA 243.18 (1980): 1807-1808. According to Etherington (1997), one of the reasons of the under-reporting of such cases is that men often found difficulty in defining their mother's behavior as abuse.Etherington, Kim. Maternal sexual abuse of males. Child Abuse Review: Journal of the British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect 6.2 (1997): 107-117. In a clinical study by Olson (1990), 30 men had been victims of incest; the mother was a perpetrator in 61.5 % of cases.Olson, P. E. (1990). The sexual abuse of boys: A study of the long-term psychological effects. In M. Hunter (Ed.), The sexually abused male: Vol. 1. Prevalence, impact, and treatment (pp. 137 - 152 ) . Lexington, MA: Lexington. In a clinical study by Kelly et al. (2002), among the 67 sexually abused men, in 17 cases the perpetrators were their mothers.Kelly, Robert J., et al. "Effects of mother-son incest and positive perceptions of sexual abuse experiences on the psychosocial adjustment of clinic-referred men." Child abuse & neglect 26.4 (2002): 425-441.
More recently, studies have suggested that sibling incest, particularly older brothers having sexual relations with younger siblings, is the most common form of incest,Wiehe, Vernon (1997). Sibling Abuse: Hidden Physical, Emotional, and Sexual Trauma. Sage Publications, Rayment-McHugh, Sue; Ian Nesbit (2003). " Sibling Incest Offenders As A Subset of Adolescent Sex Offenders." Paper presented at the Child Sexual Abuse: Justice Response or Alternative Resolution Conference convened by the Australian Institute of Criminology and held in Adelaide, 1–2 May 2003Cawson, P., Wattam, C., Brooker, S., & Kelly, G. (2000). Child maltreatment in the United Kingdom: A study of the prevalence of child abuse and neglect . London: National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Sibling incest is roughly five times as common as other forms of incest according to Gebhard, P., Gagnon, J., Pomeroy, W., & Christenson, C. (1965). Sex Offenders: An Analysis of Types. New York: Harper & Row. with some studies finding sibling incest occurring more frequently than other forms of incest.A large-scale study of (n = 3,000) by the UK's National Council for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children found that fathers committed about 1% of child sex abuse, while siblings committed 14%. See BBC News Online: Health, Child Abuse Myths Shattered, November, 20, 2000 Some studies suggest that adolescent perpetrators of sibling abuse choose younger victims, abuse victims over a lengthier period, use violence more frequently and severely than adult perpetrators, and that sibling abuse has a higher rate of penetrative acts than father or stepfather incest, with father and older brother incest resulting in greater reported distress than stepfather incest.O'Brien, M. J. (1991). "Taking sibling incest seriously." In M. Patton (ed.), Family Sexual Abuse: Frontline Research and Evaluation, pp. 75–92. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Pakistan, and Nigeria are some of the countries with the most incest through consanguineous marriage.
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 Foundation said 76% of respondents to its survey had been abused when they were children 40% of those by a family member."
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:
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 , including depression, , Phobia, somatoform disorder, substance abuse, borderline personality disorder, and complex post-traumatic stress disorder. (1989). 9780876305607, Psychology Press. ISBN 9780876305607
The Goler clan in Nova Scotia is a specific instance in which child sexual abuse in the form of forced adultchild and siblingsibling incest took place over at least three generations. (1998). 9780670873883, Penguin Books. ISBN 9780670873883 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. 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. Child protection workers and psychologists said interviews with the children indicated "a virtual sexual free-for-all".
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. 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.
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. 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.
Some societies differentiate between full-sibling and half-sibling relations.Roger S. Bagnall, Bruce W. Frier, The Demography of Roman Egypt, 2006, p.128Roy Porter, Mikuláš Teich, Sexual Knowledge, Sexual Science: The History of Attitudes to Sexuality, 1994, p.239
In some non-Western societies, marriages between close biological relatives account for 2060% of all marriages."In some parts of the world 20–60% of all marriages are between close biological relatives (Bittles, 1998)"
[https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alan_Bittles/publication/226985985_Genetic_Counseling_and_Screening_of_Consanguineous_Couples_and_Their_Offspring_Recommendations_of_the_National_Society_of_Genetic_Counselors/links/0c960528ac23292963000000.pdf Genetic Counseling and Screening of Consanguineous Couples and Their Offspring: Recommendations of the National Society of Genetic Counselors]
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. 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 Property will not pass into the hands of "outsiders". Cross-cousin marriages are preferred among the Yanomami of Brazilian Amazonia, among many other tribal societies identified by anthropologists. [[File:Cousin_marriage_map_USA.svg|thumb|300x300px| Laws regarding first-cousin marriage in the States ----1 Some states recognize marriages performed elsewhere, while other states do not.]] 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 people 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.
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.
In Islamic law, marriage among close blood relations like parents, stepparents, parents in-law, siblings, stepsiblings, the children of siblings, aunts, and uncles is forbidden, while first or second cousins may marry. Marrying the widow of a brother or the sister of a deceased or divorced wife is also allowed.
There may also be other deleterious effects besides those caused by recessive diseases. Thus, similar may be more vulnerable to infectious diseases (see Major histocompatibility complex and sexual selection).
A 1994 study found a mean excess mortality with inbreeding among first cousins of 4.4%., citing A 2008 study also found decreased lifespan among offspring of first cousins, but no difference between lifespans after the second cousin level. A 1990 study conducted in South India found that the incidence of malformations was slightly higher in uncle-niece progeny (9.34%) compared to the first cousin progeny (6.18%). Stillbirth rates were significantly higher among consanguineous couples irrespective of the mother's socioeconomic status, and were higher in uncle-niece mating's compared to first cousin and beyond first cousin unions in both the poor and middle/upper class. Children of parentchild or siblingsibling unions are at increased risk compared to cousincousin unions. Studies suggest that 20–36% of these children will die or have major disability due to the inbreeding. A study of 29 offspring resulting from brothersister or fatherdaughter incest found that 20 had congenital abnormalities, including four directly attributable to autosomal recessive alleles.
While the legality of consensual incest depends on the country which you live in, sexual assault committed against a close term relative is seen as a very serious crime in most countries. In some legal systems, the fact of a perpetrator being a close relative to the victim constitutes an aggravating circumstance in the case of any kinds of sexual crimes such as rape and sexual conduct with a minor– this is the case in Romania.See Articles 218–221 of the Romanian Penal Code [16]
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. Hebrew-English Bible
Incestuous relationships, along with the other forbidden relationships that are mentioned in Leviticus 18, are considered so severe among Chillul 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.Yebamot (Tosefta) 2:3 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,Yebamot 21a although there was inconclusive debate about exactly what the limits should be for the definition of seconds.
Marriages that are forbidden in the Torah (with the exception of uncleniece marriages) were regarded by the rabbis of the Middle Ages as invalid– as if they had never occurred; Shulchan Aruch, Eben ha-'Ezer, 16, 1 any children born to such a couple were regarded as mamzer, and the relatives of the spouse were not regarded as forbidden relations for further marriage.Yebamot 94b On the other hand, relationships that were prohibited due to qualifying as seconds and so forth were regarded as wicked but still valid; while such a couple may have been pressured to divorce, any children of the union were still seen as legitimate.
The Book of Common Prayer of the Anglican Communion allows marriages up to and including first cousins.
The Catholic Church regards incest as a sin against the Sacrament of Matrimony. 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.
Cousin marriage is discouraged. Historically especially before Islam, in certain regions, widespread in the Middle East. (2026). 9781782384380, Berghahn Books. ISBN 9781782384380
Although Islam does not specifically cite punishments for cousin marriage, there are attributed to Muhammad calling for distance from the marriage of relatives.
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.Michael Mitterauer, "The Customs of the Magians: The Problem of Incest in Historical Societies," in Roy Porter and Mikuláš Teich, eds., Sexual Knowledge, Sexual Science: The History of Attitudes to Sexuality, Cambridge, UK, and New York, 1994, pp. 231–50.Fischer, Michael MJ. "Ptolemaic Jouissance and the Anthropology of Kinship: A Commentary on Ager" The Power of Excess: Royal Incest and the Ptolemaic Dynasty"." Anthropologica 49, no. 2 (2007): 295–299. 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.*Jakob Eduard Polak, Persien, das Land und seine Bewohner: ethnographische Schilderungen, 2 vols in one, Leipzig, 1865; tr. Kaykāvus Jahāndāri as Safar-nāma-ye Polāk: Iran wa Irāniān, Tehran, 1982.
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),Porter, Roy, and Mikulas Teich, eds. Sexual Knowledge, Sexual Science. CUP Archive, 1994, p.237 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.Scheidel, Walter. "Evolutionary psychology and the historian." The American Historical Review 119, no. 5 (2014): 1563–1575.
Although marriages between persons having the same gotra are generally frowned upon, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: N-Z, James G. Lochtefeld, Rosen Publishing Group, 2002; p. 526. 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."In India these rules are reproduced in the form of that one must not marry within the Gotra, but not without the caste" "Limitations of Marriage" . sanathanadharma.com
Many species of , including humanity's closest primate relatives, tend to avoid mating with close relatives, especially if there are alternative partners available. However, some chimpanzees have been recorded attempting to mate with their mothers. Incest not so taboo in nature Livescience, retrieved 29 January 2012 Male rats have been recorded engaging in mating with their sisters, but they tend to prefer non-related females over their sisters. Sexual Behaviour In Animals A. Sarkar; retrieved 29 January 2012
Livestock breeders often practice controlled breeding to eliminate undesirable characteristics within a population, which is also coupled with the culling of what is considered unfit offspring, especially when trying to establish a new and desirable trait in the stock.
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