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Accidental incest is sexual activity or marriage between persons who were unaware of a family relationship between them which would be considered incestuous.
The laws of many jurisdictions[ which? ] void incestuous marriages, even if entered into without awareness of the kinship. If an incestuous relationship is suspected, DNA testing may be used. Some jurisdictions[ which? ] permit offspring of IVF donations access to donation records or to adoption records.[ citation needed ]
People may be unaware of a kinship relationship between them in a number of circumstances. For example, artificial insemination with an anonymous donated sperm may result in offspring being unaware of any biological relations, such as paternity or half siblings. To reduce the likelihood of accidental incest, fertility clinics usually limit the number of times that a donor's sperm may be used. [1] [2] Some countries have laws limiting the number of children a donor can father, [3] while others limit sperm donations based on family numbers to enable one family to have true siblings.
Taiwan allows those conceived by artificial means to find out if they are related to a person they are considering marrying. [4]
Accidental incest may also arise in the following situations:
Genetic sexual attraction is a pseudoscientific explanation offered for cases of sexual attraction and relations between adults who were not aware of their close blood relations. [6]
Amnon was, in the Hebrew Bible, the oldest son of King David and his second wife, Ahinoam of Jezreel. He was born in Hebron during his father's reign in Judah. He was the heir apparent to the throne of Israel until he was assassinated by his half-brother Absalom to avenge the rape of Absalom's sister Tamar.
Incest is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity, and sometimes those related by lineage. It is forbidden and considered immoral in most societies, and can lead to an increased risk of genetic disorders in children in case of pregnancy from incestuous intercourse.
An incest taboo is any cultural rule or norm that prohibits sexual relations between certain members of the same family, mainly between individuals related by blood. All known human cultures have norms that exclude certain close relatives from those considered suitable or permissible sexual or marriage partners, making such relationships taboo. However, different norms exist among cultures as to which blood relations are permissible as sexual partners and which are not. Sexual relations between related persons which are subject to the taboo are called incestuous relationships.
Oedipus was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby bringing disaster to his city and family.
Creon, is a figure in Greek mythology best known as the ruler of Thebes in the legend of Oedipus.
In Greek mythology, Jocasta, also rendered Iocaste and also known as Epicaste, was a daughter of Menoeceus, a descendant of the Spartoi Echion, and queen consort of Thebes. She was the wife of first Laius, then of their son Oedipus, and both mother and grandmother of Antigone, Eteocles, Polynices and Ismene. She was also sister of Creon and mother-in-law of Haimon.
Oedipus Rex, also known by its Greek title, Oedipus Tyrannus, or Oedipus the King, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed c. 429 BC. Originally, to the ancient Greeks, the title was simply Oedipus (Οἰδίπους), as it is referred to by Aristotle in the Poetics. It is thought to have been renamed Oedipus Tyrannus to distinguish it from Oedipus at Colonus, a later play by Sophocles. In antiquity, the term "tyrant" referred to a ruler with no legitimate claim to rule, but it did not necessarily have a negative connotation.
Incest in the Bible refers to sexual relations between certain close kinship relationships which are prohibited by the Hebrew Bible. These prohibitions are found predominantly in Leviticus 18:7–18 and 20:11–21, but also in Deuteronomy.
Koi Kaze is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Motoi Yoshida. It was published in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Evening from 2001 to 2004, with its chapters collected in five tankōbon volumes by Kodansha. The series tells of the incestuous relationship that develops between 28-year-old Koshiro, and his 15-year-old sister, Nanoka.
Jewish views on incest deal with the sexual relationships which are prohibited by Judaism and rabbinic authorities on account of a close family relationship that exists between persons. Such prohibited relationships are commonly referred to as incest or incestuous, though that term does not appear in the biblical and rabbinic sources. The term mostly used by rabbinic sources is "forbidden relationships in Judaism".
The dynastic history of Thebes in Greek mythology is crowded with a bewildering number of kings between the city's new foundation and the Trojan War. This suggests several competing traditions, which mythographers were forced to reconcile.
The Infernal Machine, or La Machine Infernale is a French play by the dramatist Jean Cocteau, based on the ancient Greek myth of Oedipus. The play initially premiered on April 10, 1934 at the Theatre Louis Jouvet in Paris, France, under the direction of Louis Jouvet himself, with costumes and scene design by Christian Bérard. The Infernal Machine, as translated by Albert Bermel, was first played at the Phoenix Theatre, New York, on February 3, 1958, under the direction of Herbert Berghof, with scenery by Ming Cho Lee, costumes by Alvin Colt, and lighting by Tharon Musser.
Œdipe (Oedipe) is an opera in four acts by the Romanian composer George Enescu, set to a French libretto by Edmond Fleg. It is based on the mythological tale of Oedipus, as told by Sophocles in Oedipus the King.
The Cases of Stübing v. Germany involve a series of criminal prosecutions and appeals surrounding Patrick Stübing and Susan Karolewski, two German siblings who have had four children in an incestuous relationship with each other. Stübing has served several prison sentences for violating German laws prohibiting sexual intercourse between siblings, and Karolewski has been held under supervision for the same. The couple have been allowed to keep only their fourth child. Stübing eventually obtained a vasectomy. Their case has featured in public debate about whether sibling sexual relations should be decriminalised in Germany.
Incest is found in folklore and mythology in many countries and cultures in the world.
Laws regarding incest vary considerably between jurisdictions, and depend on the type of sexual activity and the nature of the family relationship of the parties involved, as well as the age and sex of the parties. Besides legal prohibitions, at least some forms of incest are also socially taboo or frowned upon in most cultures around the world.
Polybus is a figure in Greek mythology. He was the king of Corinth whose wife was variously referred to as Periboea, Merope or Medusa, daughter of Orsilochus.
In psychoanalytic theory, the Jocasta complex is the incestuous sexual desire of a mother towards her son.
Oedipus is a play by the 5th-century BCE Athenian dramatist Euripides. The play is now lost except for some fragments. What survives of the play covers similar ground as Sophocles' acclaimed Oedipus Rex, but scholars and historians have found there are significant differences. In Oedipus Rex, the title character blinds himself upon learning his true parentage, accidentally killing his father and marrying his mother Jocasta. In Euripides' play, however, it appears Oedipus is blinded by a servant of his father Laius, Oedipus' predecessor as king of Thebes. Furthermore, Euripides' play implies Oedipus was blinded before it was known that Laius was his father. Also, while in Sophocles' play Jocasta kills herself, remaining fragments of Euripides' play depict Jocasta as having survived and accompanied Oedipus into exile.
Xwedodah is a spiritually-influenced style of consanguine marriage assumed to have been historically practiced in Zoroastrianism before the Muslim conquest of Persia. Such marriages are recorded as having been inspired by Zoroastrian cosmogony and considered pious. It was a high act of worship in Zoroastrianism, and there were punishments for not performing it. This form of direct familial incest marriage allowed Zoroastrians to marry their sisters, daughters, granddaughters, and their own mothers to take as wives. Xwedodah was widely practiced by royalty and nobility, and possibly clergy, but it is not known if it was commonly practiced by families in other classes. In modern Zoroastrianism it is near non-existent, having been noted to have disappeared as an extant practice by the 11th century AD.