Incestuous Families

Incestuous Families

Incest is one of the strongest and most consistent taboos in both primitive and highly developed cultures. Although accepted in the ancient royal families of Greece, Peru, and Egypt, these incestuous alliances were used mainly to consolidate and to hold power among close family members.1 The Bible relates the story of Lot, who, after fleeing the evil city of Sodom and losing his wife in flight, was plied with wine by his two daughters, who said: "We will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father."2

From Oedipus Rex to the recent movie "Chinatown," the myths, arts, and literature of varied civilizations have expressed both a fascination with and a repugnance to incest. Some of the basic tenets of Freudian theory are grounded in Freud's perceptions of the incestuous fantasies of children about their parents and the resolution of these attachments.

Until recently, articles concerning incest were published mainly in psychiatric journals. As child-abuse laws have been adopted and publicized, reviews and commentaries on incest have appeared both in other medical journals and in popular magazines. As this once unmentionable subject becomes exposed, explored, and discussed, it behooves medical personnel to become aware of and alert to the possibility of its occurrence among their patients.