We explain what incest is and historical examples of this prohibited practice. Also, its characteristics, explanations and consequences.
Incest is a practice prohibited in almost all civilizations.
What is Incest?
Incest refers to sexual relations practiced between individuals who share a direct blood relationshipsuch as between siblings, parents and children, grandparents and descendants, or whatever the biological or consanguineous link between the two individuals.
Incest It is a culturally rejected practiceprohibited and taboo in almost all civilizations, and which is the opposite of exogamy (sexual relations with individuals outside the family group) and endogamy.
In ancient times, the incestuous tendency had as its primary objective the preservation of the power of the nobility within the same family group and to prevent the entry of external families (a kind of even more extreme absolutism). For this reason, there were various cases of incest throughout history, especially among eccentric rulers or those of very closed castes.
Incest in ancient times
The Greek god Zeus was a recurring incestuous man with his sisters Demeter and Hera.
Various accounts from antiquity mention historical figures who had incestuous tendencies. Everything points to the fact that such family unions responded to the practical criterion of preserving the power of the throne linked to the family.
Among the main recognized cases of incest in ancient times, the following stand out:
- Queen Cleopatrafrom ancient Egypt, is said to have married two of her own brothers, and something similar is reported of the Inca and Hawaiian kings.
- Nero and Caligula, Roman emperorsthey would have slept with their mother and sisters, respectively, which reinforces the air of perdition and lust with which decadent Rome is associated.
- The Habsburg Dynastyone of the most influential noble houses in Europe, whose members intermarried (among cousins) for several generations.
- The case of Oedipus, from Greco-Roman mythology, who unknowingly marries his mother Jocasta and kills his father Laius. His offspring, the fruit of the forbidden union, would be cursed and suffer suffering throughout the generations.
- The Greek god Zeus was a recurring incestuousbecause he would have had extensive descendants with his sisters Demeter and Hera.
- Lot and his daughtersmentioned in the Bible, the latter get him drunk so they can sleep with him and continue the lineage, but trying not to be seen when they enter his bed, so they become secretly pregnant.
The prohibition of incest
Incest is a practice culturally rejected, even persecutedand in some countries it is illegal, while in others it is tolerated but without any right to legally consecrate the union through marriage.
In almost all religious codes it is considered as an immoral, forbidden union and its offspring often cursedHowever, cases of incest abound in ancient mythologies and in the Judeo-Christian Bible itself.
Biological explanation of incest
Incest increases the incidence of hereditary diseases and defects.
The biological explanation of incest is based on the fact that individuals belonging to the same family share a high percentage of their genetic material. Therefore, incest would mean, from a biological point of view, a union that impoverishes or decreases the genetic variability available for future generations.
The Decreased genetic variability means an increased incidence of hereditary diseases and disabilities. On the other hand, genetic mixing through exogamy, that is, between individuals that are more genetically distant, allows for greater genetic purity and diversity.
Psychoanalytic explanation of incest
The psychoanalytic explanation of incest is based on the Sigmund Freud studies On the constitution of the human mind they shed light on the taboo of incest, one of the fundamental features of civilization.
For Freud, incest would have meant, in the primitive human horde, the confrontation between men for access to reproductionwhich would have confronted siblings or even parents and children.
Thus, the practice would have received all that burden of anguish for the coming violence and would end up being despised, replaced by exogamy.
Possible consequences of incest
Among the main possible consequences of incest stand out: social rejection and the emotional or psychological problems that they could produce, among many other consequences.
In the case of relationships with offspring, they can produce the impoverishment of the genetic pool or the increased risk of mutations and related diseasesbecause any defective gene present in the family would have twice the chance of manifesting itself.
Diseases derived from incest
Some hereditary diseases have been linked to incestuous sexual relations, although this is not the only cause. The main diseases include:
- Down syndrome and other delays. Although this is not the sole and exclusive cause of mental retardation, a higher rate of this type of disease has been observed in the offspring of individuals who are genetically very close.
- Malformations. Similarly, children born with deformities or dysfunctional bodies are often the result of incest.
- Hemophilia. This disease, which prevents or hinders proper blood coagulation, has been known as “the disease of kings” because it was common among Spanish kings descended from noble houses with a marked endogamous tendency.
- Harlequin disease. Called Harlequin ichthyosis, it is a very rare genetic skin disease that resembles a harlequin costume in newborns: thick, large scales form around the body and the baby is born with inverted, bright red eyelids.