Incest in folklore and mythology

In Greek mythology, Gaia (earth) had 12 children with her own son Uranus (sky). There were six male and six female Titans, and they all mated with each other.[4] The brothers were Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Lapeteus, and Cronus. The sisters were Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, and Tethys. The Titans were not the only offsprings Gaia had with her son, Uranus. She also bore him the Cyclopes, Stereotypes, and Arges. Uranus with his mother Gaia then further produced three monstrous giants, the Hecatonchieres.

Uranus imprisoned the offsprings he detested deep in the earth. Gaia, mourning their loss, plotted revenge against him and got Cronus to support her. At night, while she laid with her son-husband, Uranus, Cronus crept into their bedchamber and castrated his father with the sickle, throwing his testicles into space.

From the union of Uranus's and Gaia's youngest offspring, Cronus, with his older sister, Rhea, the Olympians, most notably Zeus, and many other deities were born. Two of them, Zeus and his older sister Hera, followed the footsteps of their parents and also became husband and wife.[5] Through his older sister, Zeus fathered several Olympians. In one version, Zeus and Hera had their first sexual experiences as youths while still living in their parents' abode. Zeus compared subsequent intercourse with his older sister to that first encounter ("unforgettable first experience" or "unforgettable first intercourse").[6]

In a Greek cautionary myth about incest, a just young man with a taste for older woman is deceived into incest with his own mother through the malice of another young man, who was the son of one of his mistresses. The tale described a young man, Neophron, who was interested in sleeping with his mother, Timandra, and so was secretly jealous when another young man, Aegypius, showed attention to her. To Neophron's great relief, Timandra would always reject the other younger man's advances. However, one day Neophron learnt that his mother had allowed Aegypius to debauch her, and became one of his many mistresses. Heartbroken and furious, he plotted revenge against Aegypius by tricking him into laying with his very own mother, Bulis, who Aegypius believed to be Timandra, in a proverbial (or mythological) “dark chamber”. Similar themes of incestuous entrapment or of unwitting incest often recur in Greek folklore.[7][8][9]

In Parthenius of Niacea's Love's Woes, one of the many tales featuring incest, recounts the story of Periander, whose mother Cratea (Krateia) told him of a married woman who was desperately in love with him. However, this lady had conditions and they were that they could only meet in a room with no light, and he could not make her to speak to him. He accepted them and told Cratea to facilitate a nighttime encounter with this woman. Their first silent encounter was so pleasurable that Periander requested his mother to setup a meeting again and again. They would have an erotic relationship under the cover of darkness, enjoying making love in the evenings before he let her return to her husband's home. Periander, falling in love and wishing to make her his own wife, wanted to converse with her her and look upon her face.[10] However, Cratea continued to protect her identity.[11] As in all such stories, one day he concealed a lighted lamp in his bed chamber. Then after he delighted in her, he exposed the lamp and was horrified to discover his lover to be his own mother, who was sleeping unclothed beside him. Periander was deeply traumatized by the fact that his own mother had tricked him into incest, and he became mad. Seeing the state Cratea brought her son to, cried and begged him for forgiveness. She confessed that she had long had an untameable passion for him. Unable to conquer her desire, she had to resort to this deception. She tried to kill herself as an atonement, but Periander intervened and stopped her. The tale ends with Periander forgiving his mother and they continued their secret affair.[7][12][13]

Cronus and Rhea's siblings, the other Titans, were all also married siblings like Nyx and Erebus. Sea god Phorcys fathered many offspring by his sister Ceto. Myrrha committed incest with her father, Theias, and bore Adonis. Sophocles' tragic play Oedipus Rex features the ancient Greek king Oedipus inadvertently consummating an incestuous relationship with his mother Jocasta. His mother bore him Eteocles, Polynices, Antigone, and Ismene. When the truth was revealed, Jocasta hanged herself and Oedipus blinded himself.[14]

Persephone is the daughter of Demeter and her brother Zeus, and becomes the consort of her uncle Hades. Some legends indicate that her father impregnated her and begat Dionysus Zagreus.

Byblis changed into a spring in her grief over her unrequited love for her brother Caunus. In some versions of the story of Auge and her son by Heracles, Telephus, the two were nearly married before Heracles revealed the truth of their relation.

Nyctimene was seduced or raped by her father, King Epopeus of Lesbos. In her shame, she avoided showing herself by day, and Athena turned her into an owl.

Orestes married his uncle Menelaus' daughter Hermione.

In Norse mythology, Loki accused Freyr and Freyja of committing incest, in Lokasenna, as they were the son and daughter of Njörðr, the sea deity. It seemed that their father, Njörðr, and their mother were also brother and sister. This is also indicated in the Ynglinga saga, which says that brother-sister marriages were traditional among the Vanir, and it was customary for them to produce offspring.[5]

In Norse legends, the hero Sigmund and his sister Signy murdered her children and begot a son, Sinfjötli. When Sinfjötli had grown up, he and Sigmund murdered Signy's husband Siggeir. The element of incest also appears in the version of the story used in Wagner's opera-cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, in which Siegfried is the offspring of Siegmund and his sister Sieglinde.

The legendary Danish king Hrólfr kraki was born from an incestuous union of Halgi and Yrsa.

A couple of African tales have this motif where a mother gets rid of her son’s wife and puts on the wife’s clothes to have sexual intercourse with her son.[16]

In an African legend, a goat was licking the flour this girl was making. She chased it away, but it quickly came back. Feeling sympathy for the animal, the girl allowed the goat to eat as much of the flour as it wanted. When the goat was done, out of gratitude for her kindness, it warned the girl of a huge flood. It advised her to take her younger brother and get away as far as they could from this place. She and her brother picked up a few necessities and departed as the goat had advised. On their way, as they looked back, they saw a sheet of water engulf their entire village. They finally arrived at a habitable location and lived there all by themselves. Many years passed without them encountering any other person. Her brother wanted to leave in pursuit of a wife. She was against his decision as she did not want them to be separated but he had already made up his mind and would not budge. The night before he planned to embark on his journey the girl had been weeping out of sadness when the same goat from years ago reappeared to her. It told her that her brother's journey would be futile as there were no other humans alive so it advised her to marry her younger brother as only they could reproduce the human race. However, it also told her that they had to break the bottom of a clay pot and hang it onto to the sharp corner of the roof. Once that was done, they must connect it to an empty hoe-handle. This would be an indication of their blood-relation. For this reason, when a person marries their own blood, the pair must have a cracked pot and a hoe-handle put up on their roof.[17]

In an ancient African folk tale, a girl called Diirawic was extremely beautiful. Everyone in the tribe listened to her words. Men would frequently ask her to become their wife, but she had no interest in them so she would always refuse. She would get so sick of men constantly asking her the same question that she knew she needed to find a better reason for rejecting them than just simply refusing them as it did not stop them. One day, a man, who introduced himself as Teeng, wanted to marry her. Her younger brother also had the name Teeng, and this gave her an idea. She refused the stranger Teeng's proposal, and then pointed at her younger brother Teeng, who was at a distance, and said that she was engaged to be married to him. Not a lot of people knew that he was her brother, and they would often see her with him so it was convincing. Since then no men approached her, and Diirawic was happy that her lie worked. One day, someone congratulated Teeng and asked when the big celebration for the marriage was, gesturing to Teeng's sister who was playing with children at a distance. Teeng thought it was some kind of joke, but soon he learnt a lot of people thought the same thing and that it was his own sister Diirawic who told them that. He began to wonder if perhaps his sister wanted to marry him. He had always seen men asking his sister for her hand in marriage and some even offered a hundred cows for her bride-wealth, but she would still refuse. Their mother thought it was because Diirawic was in love with someone, and now Teeng wondered if that someone was himself. Teeng always admired his sister, but the idea of marrying was not something he could consider because he did not think she felt the same way. Teeng then asked his mother, “Can Diirawic, my older sister, and I marry?” His mother said, “I have never heard of such a thing. You should go and ask your father.” He went to all his relatives and they all told him to ask someone else. Finally his mother’s sister said, “My child, if you want each other, what can I say! Marry if that is your wish. You are brother and sister.” Diirawic did not know about this. One day she called all the girls and said, “Girls, let us go fishing.” When she asked, everyone obeyed. So all the girls went, including little children. In the meantime, her brother Teeng took out his favorite ox, Mijok, and slaughtered it for a feast. He was very happy that he was allowed to marry his older sister. All the people came to the feast. Diirawic’s little sister was aware that Diirawic was only telling a lie and she had also overheard Teeng so she knew what was happening. A kite flew down and grabbed up the tail of Teeng’s ox, Mijok. Then it flew to the river where Diirawic was fishing and dropped it in her lap. “This looks like the tail of my brother’s ox, Mijok, “she said. “What has killed him? I left him tethered and alive!” The girls tried to console her, saying, “Nothing bad has happened.” Diirawic was still troubled. She stopped the fishing and suggested that they return to find out what had happened to her brother’s ox. They went back. As they arrived, the little sister of Diirawic came running to her and embraced her, saying, “My dear sister Diirawic, do you know what has happened?” “I don’t know,” said Diirawic. “Then I will tell you.” “Come on, Sister, tell me,” said Diirawic. “Teeng believes that you want to marry him, “her sister said. “He has slaughtered his ox, Mijok, to celebrate your engagement to him.” Diirawic cried and said, “So the punishment of my lie is to make it the truth. So be it. If I were to admit I was lying, I would break my brother's heart, lose everyone's respect, and get shunned by the whole village. There is nothing I can do.” As it was the custom, she went and milked the cows. People drank the milk. But when she gave Teeng, her husband-to-be, the milk, he refused. And when he was given food, he refused. His heart was on his sister. That is where his heart was. After their marriage, when it was now their bedtime, he said, “I would like to sleep in that hut. Diirawic, dear older sister, let us share the hut.” Not in a position to refuse her husband in front of everyone, Diirawic said, “Nothing is bad, my young brother. You are my husband now. We can share the hut.” As she gave into his desires and slept with him in the hut, he forgot she was his older sister and as he bedded her, she forgot he was her younger brother. Diirawic learned the consequence of telling only a single lie. However, she did live a wonderful and happy life with Teeng. She gave birth first to Teeng's son and then to Teeng's daughter. She made her younger brother proud by bearing him twelve children in all.[18]

In Chinese mythology, Fu Xi was a god-king who took his older sister Nüwa as his bride.[22]

In a myth discovered with the Han and an additional 40 other ethnic groups, the human population was restored by the sexual union of a brother and his older sister after the entire human race had perished from a catastrophe, like a flood (most common), fire, snow, etc.[23]

In some variations of the creation myth, Fu Xi and Nüwa were these two siblings. It went like this: A disastrous flood erased all of humanity except for Nüwa and her younger brother, Fu Xi, who both happened be on a boat at just the right time. After the floodwaters receded, they found out that they were the only people that remained. As the sole survivors, it was their duty to not allow their race to go into extinction. It was their responsibility to continue the survival of mankind and there was only one known way. They realized that they would have to procreate, but they were very uncomfortable with the idea since they were siblings. Fu Xi and Nüwa decided to look for nature's guidance so they came to the decision that they had to go through a trial that could prove whether they were fated to be man and wife. Fu Xi and Nüwa each climbed a different mountain that faced each other. They each lit a fire on their respective mountain. If the smoke blew straight up, they would take it as sign that they should not get married. However, to their great astonishment, the smoke trails from their fires intertwined with one another. It was a definite sign that they should get married. So Fu Xi and Nüwa became man and wife and through their union, the earth was repopulated.[22]

This is another brother-sister marriage myth. Once, there was a girl and her younger brother. Every day, on their way to school, they would give food to a stone turtle. One time, while they were giving it food, the turtle warned them of a great flood that was to come. They concealed themselves in the belly of the turtle, making them the only two survivors of the severe flood. After several years had passed, the boy told his older sister to become his wife and help him reproduce the human race. She understood her younger brother's rationale, but she still considered it improper for her to marry her own younger brother so she adamantly refused. After a long argument, her brother came up with a suggestion. He proposed that they have a trial of fate. First, they would have to climb up a mountain. When they reached the summit, they would each roll a half of the same millstone down a different side of the mountain and if the halves connected, it would be a sign that they should marry. The girl, understanding how improbable it would be for that to happen, said it was a fair trial and agreed. When they came down from the mountains to check the result, they were astonished to find one half on top of the other looking as if it had never ceased to be a whole. After such an obvious sign, they immediately married. With the younger brother on top, like the millstones, they joined their bodies to become as one and the older sister conceived. With the birth of their children, they had become the ancestors of the entire human race.[24]

In another myth, which went around among the Miao people in the Yunnan Province, after a great flood, only a mother and her son survived. A deity transformed the mother into a young woman, and ordered her to marry her son. Meanwhile, the young man went searching for his mother only to come across a young beautiful woman who he immediately took a liking to. He took her that very night and she bore him many children. Even until his final breath, he never found out that he had made his own mother the mother of his children.[24]

In the legend preserved among the Li tribe of Hainan island, a pregnant woman lived alone at Hainan Island after her husband died from an illness and there were no other inhabitants at the time. After a while, she gave birth to a boy. When he grew up, he would go out hunting while she would till the ground. One day, he told his mother that he wanted to marry her as there were no other woman around. She, greatly surprised, responded that her heart still belonged to his deceased father. Repulsed by her son, she told him that they could not live together anymore. After his mother left him, he decided to embark on a journey in search of a woman to marry. A year later he came to the central part of the island and was delighted to finally find a woman. She was actually his mother, but because of the tattoo marks on her face, he was unable to recognize her. However, she did, and she pretended like she did not know him. He tried to befriend her, but she would avoid him. After several months of this, it started to rain heavily, but she had a hut that provided shelter. Feeling concerned for her son who laid out at night without any shelter in the soaking cold, she told him he could share the hut with her only during the rainy nights. However, that night her inhibitions could not resist his advances, and she got to know her son like a husband. When the rainy season ended, she allowed him to continue staying with her as she now enjoyed his nightly company. They married, but he never got to know that the mother of his children was also his own mother. Their descendants are the Hiai Ao tribe and this is why they have tattoo marks on their faces.[3]

In Japanese mythology, stories about incest between a brother and sister are quite common. In old Japanese literature, the definition of incest was restricted to only marriages between a brother and his younger sister. This would seem to permit marriage between a brother and his older sister, and the ancient Japanese apparently saw nothing wrong in this.[25] For this reason, it has been thought that the brothers and sisters that married in these myths were younger brothers and older sisters.[26]

Male and female kami (deities) that were spouses were often also siblings. The divine siblings Izanagi and Izanami were married, along with Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi in some versions. According to the Shinto myth, the islands of Japan are the children of the copulating brother-and-sister deities, Izanagi and Izanami, who from their union also gave birth to Amatarasu and various other deities.[6]

Incestuous marriage between a mother and her son is a motif which is widespread in the Circumpacific area and has been preserved in the tradition of Hachijō Island. Long ago, a tidal wave had hit the island. It drowned all life except a pregnant lady called Tanaba, who survived by clinging to a wax tree. She brought forth a boy, he grew up, and they married each other. Tanaba bore her son-husband many children, making the both of them the ancestors of the islanders.[3]

In Icelandic folklore a common plot involves a brother and sister (illegally) conceiving a child. They subsequently escape justice by moving to a remote valley. There they proceed to have several more children. The man has some magical abilities which he uses to direct travelers to or away from the valley as he chooses. The siblings always have exactly one daughter but any number of sons. Eventually the magician allows a young man (usually searching for sheep) into the valley and asks him to marry the daughter and give himself and his sister a civilized burial upon their deaths. This is subsequently done.

In the ancient Indonesian folklore of Tangkuban Perahu, Dayang Sumbi expelled her son, Sangkuriang, for his disobedience. After many years of expulsion, Sangkuriang came home and he saw Dayang Sumbi, who had long been granted the power of eternal youth by the gods. Sangkuriang fell in love with Dayang Sumbi. Sangkuriang intended on marrying Dayang Sumbi without realising she was his mother. However, Dayang Sumbi recognised Sangkuriang's birthmark. In order to prevent the marriage from taking place, Dayang Sumbi asked Sangkuriang to build a dam on the river Citarum and to build a large boat to cross the river, both before the sunrise. Sangkuriang meditated and summoned mythical ogre-like creatures – buto ijo or green giant(s) – to do his bidding. Dayang Sumbi saw that the tasks were almost completed and called on her workers to spread red silk cloths east of the city, to give the impression of impending sunrise. Sangkuriang was fooled, and upon believing that he had failed, kicked the dam and the unfinished boat, resulting in severe flooding and the creation of Tangkuban Perahu from the hull of the boat.

In a Minahasan myth, a significant event is that of the sexual relation between a mother and son. The story narrated that they were both separated, and met years later with neither recognizing the other. They married after conducting a trial which demonstrated that the two were fated to become husband and wife. The incident was present in nearly the exact same form in the island of Lombok, and also in Nias, except a ring was used instead of a staff for the trial.[27]

In the Old Irish saga Tochmarc Étaíne ("The Wooing of Étaín"), Eochaid Airem, the high king of Ireland is tricked into sleeping with his daughter, whom he mistakes for her mother Étaín. The child of their union becomes the mother of the legendary king Conaire Mor.

In some versions of the medieval British legend of King Arthur, Arthur accidentally begets a son by his half sister Morgause in a night of blind lust, then seeks to have the child killed when he hears of a prophecy that it will bring about the undoing of the Round Table. The child survives and later becomes Mordred, his ultimate nemesis.

In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, Clothra became the mother of Lugaid Riab nDerg through sexual relations with her three younger brothers (Finn Emna). Clothra would later commit adultery with her own son, and from that bore Crimthann Nia Náir.[28]

In Welsh mythology, Arianrhod bore two sons when asked to magically prove her virginity. Earlier sources imply that the father of her children was her younger brother, Gwydion.[1]

In King Degaré, a Middle English romantic story, a hermit found a cradle that had an abandoned infant, gold, silver, a pair of gloves, and a letter informing that the infant was a noble born out of wedlock. The hermit named the infant Degaré, and had his sister help raise him. At seventeen, he left the hermit to search for a wife. When he saved an earl from a dragon's attack, he was forthwith knighted. While in the castle he witnessed a beautiful lady with attendants, who is revealed to be the princess. The king had been offering his daughter to any suitor who could overcome him for years, but no suitor had ever succeeded. In love with her, Degaré unhorsed the king in a challenge and so is granted marriage. Degaré conducted himself courteously in the wedding banquet, but the princess did not speak to him. That night when they went to their bedchambers to consummate their marriage, she expressed no desire to have relations with a young boy. So she instead made him lay down on their bed and with the music of the harp, subsided Degaré's desire to ravish her and lulled her husband to sleep. She did not lay beside him, and slept in her old bedchambers for the night. Next day, he learnt that the king, his father-in-law had been killed, leaving the castle undefended. His wife promised that she will spend the nights in his arms if he avenged her father's murder and defended their castle. Motivated by her promise, he did exactly that, including slaying his father-in-law's killer. Degaré was crowned the new king, and the princess, now queen, kept her promise to fulfill her marital duties and even grew to love him. One night, after letting her husband enjoy her to satisfaction, the queen, while Degaré was fast asleep, wanting to know more about her husband, searched his belongings for clues. When she found her gloves that she had left with her infant son, she realized that she had married her own son. Knowing she was going to be bearing him a child soon and not wanting to destroy their happy marriage, she decided to take this truth to her grave.[29]

In ancient Vietnamese folklore, there is a tale of a brother and a sister. As children, the brother and sister fought over a toy. The brother smashes a stone over his sister's head, and the girl falls down unconscious. The boy thinks he has killed his sister, and afraid of punishment, he flees. Years later, by coincidence, they meet again, fall in love, and marry without knowing they are siblings. They build a house along a seashore, and the brother becomes a fisherman while his sister tends to the house. Together they have a son. One day, the brother discovers a scar on his wife's head. She tells him about the childhood fight with her brother, and the brother realizes that he has married his own sister. Overwhelmed with guilt over his incest, the brother goes out on the sea. Every day, the sister climbs to the top of the hill to look for her brother, but he never comes back. She died in waiting and became "Hon Vong Phu" ("the stone waiting for her husband").

In the Shakti worship of ancient India, the Mother-Goddess is usually equated with Mahādevī, the wife of Shiva, but she is also believed to be his mother. That is to say, being simultaneously the wife and mother of Shiva. Through sexual union with her son, she gave birth to multiple other deities.[3]

The Indian (Marathi) story, ‘Mother Marries Son’, is about the daughter of goddess Satwai, the goddess who marked the future on the heads of all children on the fifth night from their birth. The daughter is informed by her mother that it was her destiny to join in marriage with her own son. Intent on outwitting destiny, she decided to never get married, never even look at a male. She went into the forest and made a shack there. Several years passed, when she had grew into a young woman, destiny interceded. A king, out on a hunting activity in that very forest, drank from a river and having gargled with the water, spits it back into the river. Magically, his spit transformed into sperm in the water and a while later when drunk by the unaware woman, made her conceive. The woman attempted to beat destiny once more, by dropping her infant boy, swathed in her sari, down a mountain. However, the baby lived and was raised by a childless gardener and his wife. After many years, when Satwai’s daughter, bored of her lonely life in the forest, decided to go back to civilization, she inevitably came to meet the young man of this exact family and they fell in love. Assured that her son was dead, she married the now adult son of the gardener (as she believed him to be). However, soon after the consummation, the truth was discovered by her as she came across in his room the very exact sari in which she had swathed her infant son with before throwing him away. However, the woman decided to keep it her secret and “lived on with her husband happily, blessed by her old parents-in-law, to whom she was always kind and dutiful.”[16]

Many legends of Mahadeva, a disputed figure in the histories of early Buddhism, exist. He was described as having sexual relations with his own mother.[30]

There are folk stories about brother-sister love in each region of Kumaon and Garhwal. One story tells of a girl named Goridhana who had left her parents' house for her husband's house years, and yet not once did her husband, Kallnag, allow her to go back to pay a visit since then. There was no outside contact either so she had no idea of their wellbeing. He kept her at their village like a prisoner and she was very unhappy with their married life. As she watched the brothers of her sisters-in-law bring gifts for their sisters, Goridhana became very sad as she knew neither of her brothers could come. Her elder brother was in the army, and her younger brother was still a child. She wished out loud that "her husband would love her as much as a brother." A sparrow that overheard that assured her that her wish would come true. Goridhana was puzzled, but she thought that she imagined the sparrow speak so she did not think much of it. Several years passed, and Basaldev, the younger brother of Gordhanna, was living by himself. His parents had died, and the whereabouts of his elder brother were unknown. He knew he had an elder sister who was sent off to marriage in a far away land, but he was so young back then that his recollection of her was not much. He was now a young man who desired a wife, and he wished this out loud. He then heard a sparrow tell him the directions to the village where he would find the woman that would become his wife. So Basaldev started his long journey to that place with a basket of gifts on his back as the sparrow had instructed. He finally reached the border of the village and sat under a large tree, eating its fruits. From there, he saw a beautiful woman by herself and the sparrow told him she was the one. Goridhana saw a young handsome man, who she never saw in the village before, looking at her. Curious, she went over to him. They talked to each other, and he gave her the gifts he brought with him, making her very happy. Since then, everyday they would meet under the large tree and soon Goridhana fell in love with the charming stranger. He wanted to make love to her, but she was hesitant to do so with a man she was not married to, and she also feared her husband's wrath. One day, while Kallnag was home, he noticed Goridhana sneak out of the house. Suspicious, he followed after and saw her run towards Basaldev, who was under tree, and hugged him. Kallnag had long suspected the case that she was seeing another man. He transformed into a snake to bite his wife, but the sparrow warned the two before Kallnag drew close. When Kallnag went for a strike to his wife's heel, Basaldev was ready and he crushed Kallnag's head with a rock, instantly killing him. The sparrow told the two that they were now free to marry. With her husband now dead, Goridhana no longer had a reason to resist the feelings she had for Basaldev so they hand-in-hand ran away from the village before any of her in-laws learnt of Kallnag's death. They returned to Basaldev's old home, which Goridhana found vaguely familiar but she could not figure out why as it had been many years since she left her home. They married and had a night of passion. The morning sunlight woke Goridhana up with Basaldev, now her husband, still asleep beside her. She knew very little about her husband. In fact, she did not even know his name. Wanting to know more about his background, she quietly got out of bed without disturbing his sleep, slipped her clothes on, and searched the house for clues. She found her old belongings and things she recalled belonging to her parents and older brother. Goridhana immediately realized that the man she had spent the night and had fallen in love with was her own younger brother, Basaldev. And so the wish that Goridhana made ("her husband would love her as much as a brother") had indeed come true as the man she was loved by was now both her husband and younger brother. [31]

A Khasi-Jaintia folklore explains why there are spots on the moon and why it illuminates less than the sun by using an incest motif. The tale starts off by saying that in the old times, there was a lady who had four children - three daughters, Ka Sngi (Sun), Ka Um (Water), Ka Ding (Fire), and a son U Bynai (Moon). The moon was a lustful young man, for he wanted to marry his elder sister, Ka Sngi. He managed to persuade his mother for her approval, however, when Ka Sngi became aware of this, she was very angry but she also agreed to the marriage. After their consummation, as her younger brother slept beside her, she took some ashes in her hand and covered his brow with it. When he woke up and asked her about it, she said, "It is the punishment for your incestuousness and wickedness against me, your elder sister! You wicked and shameless one, be gone from the house!" U Bynai was ashamed. The moon was initially without any blemish and as bright as the sun, but from that time on he radiated a dull white light and had spots on his face because Ka Sngi covered him with ashes. The three sisters remained at home to take care of their mother.[32]

In Khasi-Jaintia Hills, it is forbidden and frowned upon for non-married couples to dance together. In all festivals, unmarried boys and girls can only dance separately. Only married couples are allowed to dance as a pair. A tale is used to explain the consequence of not following this rule. Once upon a time, a dance was held where everyone participated. Soon, the Sun and the Moon, a sister and her younger brother arrived to participate in the dance. Although they were unmarried siblings, they danced together in close proximity to each other and this led to people scorning at them. As punishment for violating the prohibition, they were forced to marry each other and so that night the Sun sexually united with her younger brother, the Moon. However, the Sun and Moon could not face the shame of their act. They fled away from the earth and up to the sky.[32]

In a Bengal folktale, a pregnant woman got lost from her husband while they were travelling. She gave birth to their child alone in a forest away from human habitation. Her weeping eventually led her to sleep with her newborn in her arms. At that time, the Kotwal (prefect of the police) of the kingdom was passing that way. Every child his wife presented him with died quickly after birth, and he was going to bury the last infant on the banks of the river. He saw a woman sleeping with a baby in her arms. The Kotwal quietly took it up, put in its place his own dead child. He returned his wife to show that the child had revived. The real mother on waking found her baby dead. In her grief she resolved to drown herself in a nearby river. An old Brahman noticed the woman going far into deep waters, some suspicion arose in his head. He ordered the woman to come to him and she came to him. On being asked what she was about to do, she said that she was going to make an end of herself. At the request of the old Brahman she related to him her tragic situation. She was received into the Brahman’s family, where she was treated by the Brahman’s wife as her own daughter. Years passed, and she still could not find her husband. The Brahmin and his wife would urge her to remarry as she still looked beautiful, but she would not. Meanwhile, her son, who was raised as the son of the Kotwal, grew into a vigorous, robust lad. One day, the Kotwal’s son noticed a beautiful older woman who passed for the Brahman’s daughter, who was in actuality his own mother. The lad desired to marry her. He spoke to his father about her, and the father spoke to the Brahman. The Brahman’s anger knew no bounds. A dwarf may as well wish to catch the moon! Dejected, the Kotwal’s son walked many a mile in darkness, when an elephant, beautifully caparisoned, came across his path, and gently lifting him up by his trunk, set him on the rich howdah on its back. The Kotwal's son knew that every morning a king was elected, for the king of yesterday was always found dead in the morning in his bedchamber. What caused the death of the king no one knew. And the elephant who took hold of the Kotwal's was the king-maker. Early in the morning it went about and whosoever was brought was accepted as king. The elephant majestically marched through the streets amid the acclamations, entered the palace, and placed him on the throne. He was proclaimed king amid the rejoicings of some and the lamentations of others. In the course of the day he recalled the strange deaths which overtook every night the elected king, but being possessed of great discretion and bravery, he took every measure to avoid the unwanted disaster. Yet he barely knew what expedients to adopt, as he did not know what the danger was. He resolved, however, to make the Brahmin's daughter his wife so he had to survive and keep his position as king which he so fortunately obtained. The Kotwal's son kept awake that night on his bed. In the dead of night he saw a thread several yards long was coming out out of the wall, and assumed the form of a huge serpent. He cut off the head of the serpent, slaying it. Early next morning the ministers came expecting as usual to hear of the king’s death; but were astonished to see him come out. It was then known to all how a terrible snake killed the king every night, and how it had at last been slain by the brave Kotwal's son. The entire kingdom rejoiced in the prospect of a permanent king. This time when he spoke to the Brahman about marrying his daughter, he happily sent her to him. She was reluctant to this marriage as her heart still belonged to her missing husband and dead child, but she did not want to disgrace the Brahmin who generously took care of her. The young king married her and made her the queen of the kingdom. On the night they were to consummate, the queen was of exquisite beauty, and so guileless and benevolent was the expression of her face. The king spent a very agreeable night with his mother as his wife, satisfying himself while also giving her the great pleasures of a woman. As the night advanced, the queen thought less and less of her tragic past history and by the time the exhausted queen fell asleep on her husband's chest, she could only think of wanting to experience this joy everyday with him. She lived very happily as the king's faithful wife and soon also became the nurturing mother of the heirs she bore him. Neither the king nor queen nor anybody else in the kingdom ever came to know that the father of the queen's children was her own son.[33]

In an Udege myth, a girl and her younger brother were the sole survivors of a great flood. They became the progenitors of the entire human race.[34]

In a Russian fairytale titled "Prince Danila Govorila", a young prince was given a magic ring by a fairy, with the stipulation that he must marry none but the woman whose finger the ring fits and she told him that there was only one woman whose finger the ring fits. The king issued a decree for a search for this bride among their noblewomen, the princesses of foreign kingdoms, and the kingdom's own common folk, and yet the ring was found to fit no one. The prince lamented of their fruitless search to his older sister, the princess of the kingdom. Knowing how his older sister admire the beauty of the ring since they were young, he gave it to her as had lost hope of ever finding this woman. She adamantly refused and tried cheering him up, telling him to not give up as the fairy had never been wrong before. She told him as much as she love the ring, it would never fit her finger as it could only fit the finger of the woman he would marry. However, the young prince was not as optimistic and forcefully had her keep it. Later, while she was alone and marvelling at how gorgeous the ring was, she could not help wish to wear it even though it was something that her parents had always forbade her from doing. She rationalized that there was no harm in trying and she expected it not to fit her anyway. However, to her great astonishment, it was a perfect ring. She immediately realized that the reason why the kingdom could never find her brother's fated wife despite the greatest of their efforts was because they did not test the one woman that was outside the radar of their expectations, his own sister. She had unwittingly qualified as the bride of her younger brother, and he had unwittingly qualified as her bridegroom. She tried to remove the ring off her finger but it was immovable and fixed. She informed her brother that she had found a woman whose finger the ring fits. Thereupon, her younger brother immediately wanted to setup the marriage. Hearing the delight of her brother, she was unable to bring herself to reveal that the bride would her, his own sister. She began to weep out of worry about the immorality of the marriage and how her dear younger brother's heart would be crushed if he were to learn the truth. The fairy appeared to her and comforted her and told the princess not to worry do as she said. When the prince summoned to the wedding his bride, the princess went to the wedding under a magical disguise made by the fairy and it seemed that the prince was unable to tell that he was wedding his own older sister. As the two left the ceremony, a man came running to the prince and stabbed him to the side with a knife, and he fell down appearing dead. The princess threw herself upon her younger brother with a great cry, whereupon the prince sprung up and hugged her. The fairy had already told him that his bride was none other than his older sister prior to their wedding. The prince had faked his death by having a pretend assassin stab a bag of blood that he had hidden under his clothes. It was an idea the fairy came up with to test the true love between a husband and wife. He grasped her hand and confirmed that she wore the ring. The princess confessed that she hid the truth from him because she thought she was unsuitable to be his wife and did not want to sadden him. He replied that she was the most suitable bride he could have ever asked for. They spent the night kissing, necking, and embracing as lovers. That was the first of many times she was in her younger brother's bedchamber as his wife.[6]

In a Filipino folklore, a huge flood once killed all the planet's inhabitants except a single pregnant woman. She gave birth to a boy. When her son, who she named Uacatan (Watakan), grew up, he married his mother, and it was said that all Mandayas were descended from them.[35][3]

The Ifugaos describe a great drought which evaporated all the waters. The elderly men recommended digging up the river which had been buried in its grave in order to find the soul of the river. For days they dug until one day a great spring bursted forth. It surged out so quickly that numerous men drowned before they could escape from the hole. To celebrate the water, the Ifugaos had a great feast. However, while they were all jubilating, heavy rains fell and the water levels greatly rose. The river spirits had been angered. There were two mountains, one at each end of the village. They tried fleeing to them for safety but none were able to make it except for two, a brother and his older sister, Wigan and Bugan respectively. Wigan was safely settled on the summit of Mount Amuyao and Bugan on the top of Mount Kalawitan. The water levels kept rising until all the land was covered except the peaks of the two mountains. There were many fruits and nuts on both of the mountain tops to sustain them. Finally, after six long years, the waters had receded. They descended down their respective mountains and hugged as soon as they found each other. Wigan was happy be reunited with Bugan, and she was delighted to see her younger brother all grown up. They settled down at the valley together. A couple of months later, Bugan realized that she was carrying her younger brother's child. However, she felt ashamed with doubts and second-thoughts about their relationship. Feeling guilty, she ran away from their home and followed the course of the river. Exhausted after a long journey and overcome with sorrow, she collapsed on the ground only to be consoled by the spirit Maknongan who appeared before her disguised as a kind elderly man with a long silver beard. He convinced her that her mortification held no water and that she had done no wrong with her younger brother. For it is by having relations with her younger brother that the world would be repeopled once more.[17]

In a Korean legend, a great flood drowned all the inhabitants of the planet except for two siblings, who married and become the progenitors of the human race. Long, long ago, a huge flood transformed the whole planet into a vast sea, leaving just a brother and his older sister on a single mountain peak. When the water subsided, the siblings descended from the mountain, only to find no other person alive. The siblings were concerned that this would be the end of the human race, and realized that only they could repopulate the earth. Unsure about breaking the incest taboo, they decided to test their compatibility. Each of them went up two mountain peaks that were positioned near to each other. The girl rolled down the bedstone (female stone) of a millstone, and her younger brother rolled down the runner stone (male stone). When they came back down to check the result, they saw that their two stones had collided and stuck together in the center of the valley. (In another variation, they put the pine branches on fire and smoke intertwined in mid-air.) The siblings considered this as an indication that their fate permitted them to marry. With the fruit born of their sexual union, mankind persisted, making the siblings the progenitors of mankind.[36][37]

In a Californian story known as The Girl Who Married Her Brother, the oldest sister of a large family left home at a young age. Twenty years later, she discovered a hair of a boy and developed a longing for the person to whom the hair may belong. Upon finding him, she led him to her bed and they enjoyed plenty of nights together. While inquiring about his family, she discovered that her lover was actually her younger brother, who was born after she left the house. Despite knowing they had committed incest, she decided to keep her realization a secret, and they eventually married.[38]

The Kammu tradition in northern Thailand included flood myths, which were stories characterized by a sexual union of the sole two survivors, often a brother and an older sister, after the diminishing of the flood waters in order to repopulate the earth. The young siblings were initially reluctant to have sexual intercourse, not until some omen persuaded them of the necessity of their coupling.

In one version of the narrative, a brother and his older sister went to dig out a bamboo rat. As they dug on and on, the bamboo rat went deeper and deeper down until at one point it stopped and asked, "Why are you trying to dig me out? A huge flood is coming and it will destroy all your villages and land, which is why I must go deep deep down to survive. You both should go and make your own protective shelter." They asked the bamboo rat how they should do it, then the two youngsters followed its instructions and made a drum. When the water came, they crawled into the hollow and caulked it with wax along the rim. One day they looked outside, and saw that the water had finally dried up. As a result of the flooding of the villages and the whole land, when they came out, they found no one alive. They decided to split and look around for other people. The older sister told her brother to go north to search for a wife while she would head south to search for a husband. The brother travelled and travelled, but no mater where he went, he saw no one. At long last, he finally saw a woman walking on a mountain in the distance. He thought he would convince her to become his wife, but when he approached, he realized that it was his own older sister. The older sister had also initially thought that there was finally a man she could marry when she saw him approaching until he drew closer and she recognized him. She told him she could not find anyone either. The younger brother suggested that they marry, but his older sister was against it. When they discussed it they agreed that as siblings, that could not be done. One day, the older sister stumbled across a malkoha cuckoo. Delightfully surprised to see one, she went closer to it. As she did, it began cooing to her, "You must embrace your younger brother!" Soon after, she rushed to find her younger brother and tell him of this news. They embraced each other that very night. From that union, she conceived and it was in the seventh year after they first emerged out of the drum that she bore her younger brother's first child.[17]

In one middle eastern folk tale, there is a theme of unwitting incest between a boy and his older sister. A boy met a girl of unknown genealogy and they married. Later, the boy found out that his wife was his older sister.[6]

A brother wanted to marry his beautiful older sister, but she was reluctant. A mouse asked her for some bread (some meat), and in return advised the sister how to test if what her brother felt towards her was lust or love. The brother asked from behind the door whether his sister was ready yet, but her spittle answered instead of her. The mouse led the sister to a house where three girls who resembled her lived. The sister invited them back to her house with her. At home, the brother could not recognize his sister; and could not tell the four girls apart. This was the test: If it was lust, the brother would pick any one of the four as they all looked equally beautiful, but if it was love, he would make certain that his wife was his sister. The brother went to an old man for advise on how to know which of one of them was his beloved sister. He followed the old man's instructions and returned home with a wound that he himself made in his own hand. One of the girls immediately rushed to dress his wound as soon as she saw it, and was insisting to know how he got hurt. With that, he was able to tell that the girl who was worrying over him was his sister. Passing the test, his older sister agreed to marry him.[41]

A sister asked a crow on how to respond to her younger brother, who wanted to marry her as she was hesitant to become his wife. The crow told the sister to agree to the marriage only on the condition that he fulfilled a couple of her requested tasks. First, the sister sent the brother to fetch the milk (meat, fat) of wild animals (wolf, bear, lion). To the crow's surprise, not only did her brother manage to accomplish the task but he also brought the cubs of the killed animals. Then, the sister sent the brother to a haunted mill where his animal helpers remained locked up behind many (seven, twelve) locks. The crow, which was actually the devil in disguise all along, attempted to kill the brother; the hero was passing the time in the sauna, when a bird (dove) brought him news about the animals’ arrival. The animals kill the devil, but not before the devil sank its teeth into the brother's neck, killing him also. The sister regretted giving her brother that task, and promised that if he came back to her, she would become his faithful wife. The animals revived the hero, and the brother took his older sister as his wife.[41]

From Taiwan alone come twenty-eight versions of a brother-sister pair living as husband and wife to become the progenitors of mankind.[42]

Among the Taiwanese aboriginals, only the Sedec tribe preserved the tale of mother-and-son incest. In this tale, there were no men and only one woman. She was pregnant and gave birth to a boy. When her son became old enough, he took his mother as his wife. His mother bore him many children, who became the ancestors of the Taroko clan.[3]

In a Himalayan story, the misadventures of a mother and a son are narrated where they unwittingly commit incest. After sleeping together, they are filled with shame when they wake up at dawn and recognize each other.[43]

In a Trobriand myth, a girl made love magic and her younger brother accidentally brushed against it and some of the oil dropped on him. He asked his mother, 'Where is the woman? Where is my sister?' This was a dreadful thing to do, for no boy should inquire about his sister, nor should he speak of her as a woman. The brother ran after his sister and found her on the beach, bathing without her fibre skirt. He loosened his pubic leaf and, naked, tried to approach her. She ran away along the beach until a rock barred her way, and then ran back to another rock at the other end, with her brother in pursuit. After running three times along the beach the girl, exhausted, allowed her younger brother to catch hold of her. They fell down, embracing in the shallow water. Then, ashamed and remorseful, but with the fire of their love not quenched, they went to the grotto of Bokaraywata where they remained clasped in one another's arms! In the Trobriands, the repressed sexual attitude of a brother's incestuous temptation can be formed only towards his older sister. Men frequently dream of sexual relations with their sisters, especially older sisters. Such relations are regarded as incestuous, but also 'smart and desirable.'[44]

In fairy tales of Aarne-Thompson folktale type 510B, the persecuted heroine, the heroine is persecuted by her father, and most usually, the persecution is an attempt to marry her, as in Allerleirauh or Donkeyskin. This was taken up into the legend of Saint Dymphna.

Several child ballads have the motif of incest between brothers and sisters who are raised apart. This is usually unwitting (as in The Bonny Hind and Sheath and Knife, for example), but always brings about a tragic end.

‘Sikhalól and his Mother’ is a story from the Pacific Atoll (coral island) of Ulithi. Lisor, a gorgeous young lady who was married to Chief Sokhsurum, bore a baby prematurely at seven months. Since the infant was still covered with amniotic fluid, Lisor did not notice a baby inside and set it adrift on the river. However, this infant was rescued. A fisherman named Rasim took the baby to his home and used magic that in just a month the infant grew into a young man. Rasim deduced the identity of his parents, since only one woman was known to be pregnant in the village at the time and he realized she must have unknowingly delivered a premature baby. However he decided to keep this truth to himself. This baby-turned young-man, who the fisherman named Sikhalól, while out on a canoe with some companions stumbled upon Lisor in her menstrual hut (place that separated women from the rest of functioning society while on their menstrual period). Lisor found herself attracted to this handsome boy and he likewise. She cheated on her husband and made love to this boy numerous times, not wishing to depart from her menstrual house even when, after ten days, her irritated husband came to take her back. When Risam told Sikhalól who his parents were and Sikhalól revealed this to Lisor, neither of them were bothered by the incest. Instead of expressing mortification or disbelief, not only Sikhalól but also (and specially) Lisor was very keen on keeping their nightly trysts going. Ultimately, Sokhsurum was slain by his own son and the story concluded thus “Sikhalól then took Lisor back to his village, and they lived together from then on."[16]

A popular Hmong origin myth narrates how the clans came out from a marriage between a brother and his older sister. The siblings survived the flood by staying in the hollow of a wooden funeral drum. When the flood died down, the younger brother deceptively convinced his older sister into becoming his wife. Each one of his children bore by his older sister became the ancestor of a unique clan.[45]

In mythology, the following motifs have appeared:

• Girl exchanges form with sorceress in order to visit her younger brother and get a son by him
• Brother unwittingly qualifies as bridegroom of his older sister in a test
• Brother and older sister unwittingly in love with each other
• Brother-sister marriage
• Man unwittingly ravishes his own older sister[6]

• Incest in the Bible
• Incest in popular culture

Notes