Incest in folklore and mythology

Halga seducing his own daughter Yrsa, by Jenny Nyström (1895).

Incest is found in folklore and mythology in many countries and cultures in the world.

Tales involving incest, especially those between siblings, have been interpreted as representing creation myths, because at the beginning of time the only way to populate the earth would have been through incest. Such incestuous unions are often used to argue the original divinity of figures that have been diminished or euhemerized into human form.

Mother-goddess coupling with son

Across this body of myths, there is a disparity in the power structures between male and female deities. In classical mythology, the son must demonstrate his dominance before his mother will engage in an amorous relationship with him. If a goddess becomes a consort of her son, a complete consummation between them is inevitable. The pattern of a mother-goddess coupling with a young male deity was widespread in the entire pre-Aryan and pre-Semitic cultural zone of Orient from southwest Asia to the eastern Mediterranean.

The most common examples of this theme have a goddess of fertility accompanying a younger male deity who is both her son and later her husband after his father's demise: Astaroth with Tammuz, Kybele with Attis, Demeter with Plutus, Venus with Cupid, Aphrodite with Eros, etc. Often from sexual unions with their son-husbands, some goddesses bore numerous offspring.

Greek

In Greek mythology, Gaia (earth) had 12 children with her own son Uranus (sky). In some versions, one of their daughters, Rhea coupled with the young Zeus, Rhea's youngest son. The Titans were not the only offsprings Gaia had with her son, Uranus. She also bore him the Cyclopes, Brontes, Steropes, and Arges. Uranus with his mother Gaia then further produced three monstrous giants, the Hecatonchieres.

Egyptian

In Egyptian mythology, Geb challenged his father's, Shu's, leadership, which caused the latter to withdraw from the world. Geb either forcefully copulated with his mother, Tefnut, or she willingly became his chief queen.

Horus, the grandson of Geb, had his own mother, Isis, become his imperial consort.

The goddess Hathor was simultaneously considered to be the mother, wife, and daughter of the sun god Ra. Hathor was also occasionally seen as the mother and wife of Horus.

Dogon

As studied by Griaule and Parin, the Dogon have the deity Amma who created the Earth. The Earth bore sons and she committed incest with her first son, resulting in her giving birth to the evil bush spirits.

Indian

In the Sakta Puranas, Devi births Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva then promises to be the wife of each of them. She gives each a cosmic role and promises to have children with each of them if they do their responsibilities well. Shiva, however, wants her to be his wife exclusively. As a result, the three of them engage in a contest in which Devi tests their competence by displaying her full power against each of them. Shiva wins her heart when he becomes the only one who is immune to her charms. The incest is implied in the text when she pledges to change into Sati in order to wed her son, Shiva. On the other hand, the incestuous bond is made very clear in other versions of the story, such as a South Indian adaptation of the myth: Devi is so pleased with Shiva that she immediately wants to reward him, allowing him to plunge his linga into her yoni and make her bear his offspring multiple times even before she becomes Sati.

Pūsan is the wooer of his mother.

Nirukta 10.46 indicates that Purūravas unites with his mother, Vāc.

In several myths, Ganesha only admires one woman, his mother Parvati, finding her more attractive than any damsel. As a result, when Parvati must rid herself of a demon that enters her, she exploits her son's infatuation by coquettishly luring him into getting intimate with her and uses his repetitive and powerful pelvic thrusts into her yoni (female genitalia) to vanquish the demon. The popular Vallabha Ganapati icon, which was inspired by a representation of an overtly sexual image, identifies Ganesha's companion as his mother. The Ganesha myths also has his father, Shiva, evidently displaying his jealousy of Parvati's affection for Ganesha.

In a very explicit Tamil myth, numerous deities complain to Parvati about her younger son, Skanda, who repeatedly has affairs with their wives. So she tricks her son by shapeshifting into the wives he targets and plays along with his seduction. Thus, thanks to Parvati's regular release of her son’s excessive passions, never again do the male deities get cuckolded by Skanda.

Bedtrick

This is a common motif that is employed in order to overcome the taboo against incest. It happens when either one or both of the relatives do not recognise each other.

Greek

In Parthenius of Niacea's Love's Woes, one of the many tales featuring incest, Periander's mother Cratea (Krateia) tells him of a married woman who is desperately in love with him. However, this lady's conditions are that they can only meet in a room with no light, and she will not speak to him. He accepts. Their first silent encounter is so pleasurable that he requests his mother to setup a meeting again and again. They continue having an erotic relationship under the cover of darkness, enjoying making love in the evenings before he lets her return to her husband's home. As in all such stories, wanting to see her face, one day he conceals a lighted lamp in his bed chamber. Then after he delights in her, he exposes the lamp and is horrified to find out that his lover, who is asleep unclothed beside him, is his own mother.

In a Greek cautionary myth about incest, a young man, Neophron, 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, thereby becoming one of his many mistresses. Heartbroken and furious, he plotted revenge against Aegypius by tricking him into lying 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.

In one Greek story, a maidservant tries to talk her mistress into meeting a man who says to have love for her. When the maidservant arrives with a promise of fifty gold from him, her mistress finally caves in to the man's relentlessness despite her initial refusal to even meet him. However, suspecting that his goal is to pass the greater part of the night in bed with her, she only consents to a quick dinner that would end before the evening gets over. In the hopes it will thwart any mischievous schemes he might try on her, she requires that he leave her house as soon as dinner is finished, before dark. He agrees, sends the provisions for food, and the two eat together. Contrary to her expectations, he does not engage in any sort of mischievousness throughout the evening. With the evening going pleasant thus far, she lets him stay a bit longer with the condition that he departs before bedtime. She also insists that he keep the fact that he is staying past dinner a secret because she does not want rumours to spread. Yet, the hours go by far past the time for bed and even past sunrise, when the man at last rises to leave from the bed where the extremely satisfied mistress remains lying. She asks him what makes him love her. Peering into the eyes of the woman who had denied him for so long, he answers that it is only natural for a man to have love for the person from whom he is born. Thus, the mistress realizes that the man she had been embracing in carnal intercourse all night long until morning is actually her own son, who she and her late husband had sent away many years ago.

African

A couple of African tales have this motif where a mother (the queen) gets rid of her son's wife (the prince's wife) and puts on the wife's clothes to have sexual intercourse with her son.

Ugandan

In a tale from Uganda, a youth called Uken was having a playful argument with his mother. "Now you are old, mother," said he. "But was I not a girl once too?" countered his mother, "surely if I dressed up the men young as you would look at me still! "Really, mother," answered Uken, "you who are all old now, who do you think would look at you?" Now when his mother heard what he said, his words sank deep in her heart. The next morning Uken was exchanging promises with a girl friend, and the girl promised that she would come to him that night. Meanwhile, Uken's mother wanted to disprove her son's earlier opinion of her. She stripped off all her old skin and there she was with complexion as clear as long ago when she had been a girl. Then she went to her son's sleeping place, and waited for him, wanting to see his reaction. She waited and waited but sleep began to overwhelm her and overwhelmed her it did. By the time the youth came back from his walk it was night. He found his mother asleep on his sleeping place. She looked so young and beautiful from head to foot, glistening with the oil she had used to anoint her body, and wearing beads of many kinds.' There she was lying on his sleeping place. So when her son came and entered the hut his eye lit up at the thought that perhaps the girl who had made him promises had really come. And so he lay with his mother that night. At first light his mother went out and left him on the bed. She had never intended for this to happen nor did she think her son knew he had spent the night sleeping with his mother as if he was her husband so she decided she would take this secret to her grave. She returned to her hut and put on her old skin. Then when morning came Uken got up and went to his mother's hut to ask her for food, and once again made some comment about her old age. Hearing that, she could not help herself and said "Your mother, your mother, did you know that just a few hours ago you were enjoying the night with this old lady?" Uken was shocked, and knew it to be true as he realized the moans and sighs of his woman last night matched the voice of his mother. Mortified and embarrassed, never again did he disrespect his mother's appearance.

Nupe

In a Nupe tale, a man gives his mother money and tells her to use it to get him a wife. However, a man she owes money to takes the amount her son gave her. When her son asks what’s taking so long, she tells him that his wife would come that night. She indeed comes and passes the night with him but she is nowhere to be found the next morning. When his mother becomes pregnant, he realizes the deceit. The mother blames it on his impatience. So he marries his mother, as she is now the mother of his child.

Indian

In a Jataka tale, a son returns to his parents' house after completing his education in Taxila. When his mother tests his awareness of worldly matters, she feels that he is unaware of anything regarding the nature of women. Then she sends him back to his teacher, saying he needs to gain wisdom on women, but the son distrusts his mother's intentions. One day, while her husband is travelling for work and she is on her way from the market, she encounters a young travelling merchant who praises her beauty. The mother is enamoured with the youth, and invites him to her house, where she feasts him by day and lays with him by night. When she arises in the morning, she is surprised to find her son in place of her lover. He asks if she is finally satisfied with his knowledge about the nature of women. Realizing that her young lover was her son in disguise, she becomes overwhelmed with shame.

Middle Eastern

In the Bedouin tale narrated by Lila Abu-Lughod, a guy misidentifies his mother as his wife after a long absence and sleeps with her.

Iranian

In a Persian story, there is once a king called Jam, whose vassals, stirred up by Ahriman, turn against him, so he has to flee with his older sister Jamag. They find safety upon an island in a bay of the great ocean. Ahriman and the devs plan to destroy him. They search him for a long time but cannot find him. At last they locate him among the islands; two devs, who take on a male and female form, go forth to destroy him, by luring him with lies. When Jam meets them, he asks, "Who are you?" "We are a brother and sister like you," the male dev lied, "seeking protection from enemies, just as you are doing. Come, give me this sister of yours as wife, and I shall give you mine, so that our lineages may not be extinguished." And Jam does so. But instead of children, the female dev bears him all kinds of evil demons; similarly the male dev begets demons upon Jamag. Jam's head is still clouded with grief over the loss of his kingdom, so he takes no notice of the demons befouling his island and defiling his soul. But Jamag his sister sees the state of things more clearly. One day, after Jam and the male dev drink wine, Jamag swaps places and clothes with the female dev. Jam, being drunk, sleeps with Jamag his older sister, thinking she is his wife, uniting his body with hers. The power and virtue of this xwedodah by Jam and Jamag, even though he sleeps with her unknowingly and in drunkenness, is such that the two deceitful devs and all the demons they had produced are quickly eliminated, as well as thousands of other evil spirits. Jam quickly recovers his right mind; soon he is restored to the kingship, defeating his enemies. His older sister Jamag he makes his wife and queen.

German

In a German folktale, a woman resolves not to love another man after her husband's death. Thus she has a wooden statue made that resembles her husband. She names it "Wooden Johannes," and it is to be her companion in place of her husband if he were to die before her. Her husband indeed dies before her. Every night she takes the statue from the stove and lays it in her bed before going asleep, but one evening when she knew she would be out late with friends, she tells her son to lay Wooden Johannes in her bed for her as soon as he is warm. Considering that his mother would be in a good mood after her evening out, her son takes advantage of this. When the widow arrives home to sees a figure on her bed, she assumes her son followed her instruction. However, a while later, she realizes her son’s mischief but she is too pleased by how this Johannes was warming her, that she does not remove him from her bed as soon as he cools down, as is her usual practice with the wooden one, but keeps him by her side. The next day, she finds no dry wood in the house to fry the fish so she chops up Wooden Johannes. Thus, her son warms her so well that she marries him and his name changes from Johannes Jr to Johannes Sr.

Roman

In this story, a maidservant informs her mistress, a noble widow, that the mistress's young son has made signs of advances at her. At the widow's instructions, the maidservant tells the boy to expect her in his bed that night, but the widow hides in his bed instead with an intent to find out the truth. However, so fragile is her resolve, she cannot help but respond approvingly to his embrace and so instead yields to his desire without divulging her identity. Her son, on the other hand, who is still innocent at the time, cannot differentiate a maiden from an experienced lady. When the act is done, she is filled with shame and she comes up with an excuse to send her son away. However, she realizes later that she has conceived. Unable to hide her pregnancy, her son soon finds out the truth.

Contemporary

A older sister comes to Athens to visit her brother for a weekend. The brother invites her to hang out at his frat party, and they get really "ripped". His sister excuses herself for the john. A good while later, she has not returned, so he goes to look for a girl to hook up with, thinking his sister is with some guy. While stumbling around the frat house, completely soused, he happens upon a dark room with a girl. The boy sleeps with her. After the girl passes out, he switches on the light to see who she is. The brother realizes with horror that it is his older sister. The message of the legend is a reminder that every woman is somebody's sister, daughter, or mother.

Fraternity incest legends focus on the horrors of unintentional incest. One version of the fraternity incest legend is about a freshman, who is a frat boy, "banging" a sophomore, who is a sorority girl, of another college on his bed, but the boy discovers, when he turns on the light, that she is his older sister. The foreboding warnings of the dangers of anonymous sex are given at the start of the story.

Oedipus-Type Tales

Sophocles' tragic play Oedipus Rex is the most famous tale of mother-son incest. It features the ancient Greek king Oedipus inadvertently consummating an incestuous relationship with his mother Jocasta. His mother bears him four children: Eteocles, Polynices, Antigone, and Ismene. Oedipus-type tales are stories that are remarkably similar to the Greek tale of Oedipus Rex. They begin with the warning of the incest to happen and, in response, the usually noble mother exposes or deserts her child. However, the child lives to adulthood. The hero’s desertion as a child makes plausible that neither the son nor mother recognize each other, but after they wed, the mother and son learn the truth about their relationship. The core plot, having entered into the world of folklore, is found in various settings of folktales from many nations.

Indonesian

In the Indonesian legend of Tangkuban Perahu, princess Dayang Sumbi wants to test the skill of her son. So she orders him to build a dam on the river Citarum and a large boat to cross the river, both before sunrise. Sangkuriang summons mythical creatures to do his bidding. Dayang Sumbi considers it cheating as she expects him to do it with his own abilities so she calls on her workers to spread red silk cloths east of the city, to give the illusion of impending sunrise. Sangkuriang is fooled, and upon believing that he has failed, kicks the dam and the unfinished boat, causing great flooding and the creation of Tangkuban Perahu from the hull of the boat. As punishment for this failure, she strikes Sangkuriang at his chest, leaving a huge scar, and banishes him. Soon after that she is granted the power of eternal youth. Over the years, she rejects many suitors until a famed hunter falls in love with her. She also rejects him even when her counsel tries to make her see that he is a young famous and skilled warrior. However, when she loses her weaving needle, she agrees to marry the warrior if he finds it. He succeeds in bringing it back to Dayang Sumbi, and she becomes his wife. After a night of mutual satisfaction, while laying aside her sleeping husband, she recognizes the scar on his chest as her son’s.

In a Minahasan myth, a mother and son 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.

Malaysian

One story is about a pair of stars called Moguratak and Saguanggok that are formerly a human mother and son. They were the only inhabitants in the earth, but not knowing this, they separate to go look for other humans. After extended travellings, they reunite at the location from which they had separated initially, but do not recognize each other and marry. When they become find out the truth, they turn into a pair of stars on opposite sides of the sky. When they draw close to each other, it is said to be an indication of incest occurring on earth.

British

In a Middle English romantic story, a hermit finds a cradle that has an abandoned infant, gold, a pair of gloves, and a letter informing that the infant is a noble born out of wedlock. When the infant, who gets named Degaré, grows up, he saves an earl from a dragon's attack, he is knighted and sees a beautiful lady with attendants, and she is revealed to be the princess. The young boy learns that the king will give his daughter's hand in marriage to anyone who can defeat him. Having fallen in love with her, Degaré unhorses the king in a challenge and so is granted marriage. However, before the wedding, the princess sedates Degaré as she is unwilling to marry him and so he fails to show up for the ceremony. However, when he wakes up, he learns that the king, his father-in-law has been slain, leaving the castle undefended. The princess apologises and promises that she will go through with the marriage if he avenges her father's murder and defends their castle. Motivated by her promise, he does exactly that, including slaying his father-in-law's killer. The princess, now queen, keeps her promise, and Degaré is also crowned the new king, One night, after letting Degaré enjoy her to satisfaction, the queen, while he is fast asleep, wanting to know more about her husband, searches his belongings for clues. When she finds the gloves she had left with the baby she birthed, she realizes her husband is her own son. Not wanting to disturb the stability of the kingdom, she decides to take this truth to her grave.

Indian

In a Marathi folktale, there is a girl born, predestined to wed her own son and have children by him. She willfully vows to try to avoid this fate: So she withdraws into a deep forest, shunning all male company, but a king who is passing by impregnates her. After giving birth to a boy, she wraps him in a piece of her sari and leaves him in a nearby brook. Two decades later, a handsome adventurer comes hunting in the same forest, and she falls in love with him. She marries him and gladly bears him a child. According to custom, the father's swaddling clothes, which were preserved, are now brought out for the newborn son. She recognizes at once the piece of sari she used to wrap her first son, her now-husband, and realizes that fate had truly caught up with her. "Sleep O son, O grandson, O brother to my husband Sleep O sleep Sleep well," she sings, lulling her baby to sleep while also expressing the "unnatural" confusion of their mother-son kinship. By marrying her son and having a second son by him, the generation distinction vanishes, blurring the line between kin by birth and kin by marriage; son and husband, mother-in-law and mother; and so on. In some variants, the heroine accepts her incestuous marriage as fate, keeps it secret, lives happily ever after with her spouse, and "is blessed by her aged parents-in-law to whom she is always kind and dutiful."

In a Bengal folktale, a pregnant woman is abandoned by her husband while they are travelling and gives birth to their child in a forest. At that time, the chief police of the kingdom is passing by. He sees the woman sleeping with the baby in her arms. Having no child of his own, the Kotwal quietly takes the baby and brings him home to his wife. The real mother on waking finds her baby missing and resolves to drown herself in a river. An old Brahman sees the woman go into deep waters, and some suspicion arises in his head. On being asked on why she is trying to end herself, she relates to him her tragic situation. She is then received into the Brahman's family, where she is treated by the Brahman's wife as if she is her own daughter. The Brahmin and his wife would urge her to remarry as she was still young, but she would not. Her son, who is raised as the son of the king's police chief, grows into a vigorous, robust lad. One day, he spots a beautiful woman, the Brahman's "daughter". The lad desires to marry her, but when her family is approached about it, the Brahman's anger knew no bounds. Dejected, the son walks many a mile in darkness, when an elephant, beautifully caparisoned, comes across his path, and gently lifts him up by his trunk, setting him on its back. The son knows this elephant goes about and whosoever is brought is accepted as king, for the king of yesterday was always found mysteriously dead in the morning in his bedchamber. The elephant majestically places him on the palace throne. He is proclaimed king amid the rejoicings of many. Being possessed of great discretion and bravery, he takes every measure to keep awake that night on his bed, and in the dead of night he spots a thread several yards long coming out of the wall to take the form of a huge serpent, but he cuts off its head, slaying it. The entire kingdom rejoices at the prospect of a permanent king. This time when he speaks to the Brahman about marrying his daughter, he happily sends her to him. She is reluctant to this marriage as her heart still belongs to her former husband and dead child, but not wanting to disgrace the Brahmin, who kindly took care of her, she marries the young king and becomes the new queen. As time goes on, the queen thinks less and less of her tragic past as she now had the duty of being the nurturing mother of the heirs she bore him. Thus, no one ever finds out that the Queen is the mother of her own son's children.

In a legend of Mahadeva, his father desserts him and his mother when he is a child. His mother has unmet passions that she can no longer hold in so she pays an old woman to set her up with a man she can be intimate with. However, she gives conditions: she will not expose her body and neither should he know who she is. Later, the old woman returns to Mahadeva's mother to tell her a man agreeing with the conditions and a place had been arranged. In the quietness of night, Mahadeva's mother goes right to the very house her secret lover is In the dark of night, with the senses blinded, they enjoy each other and she dispells her lust with him. And at the end of the night, having her desires fulfilled, she returns home. After six years of these repeated pleasurable encounters, one night she returns home, forgetting her head covering. The next morning she is confronted by Mahadeva with her head covering. Ofcourse, by this point, she realizes that her secret lover had been her son all along. From that time, they engaged in carnal pleasure in their own house. However, his mother was unsatisfied with the secrecy. So they left for another land where they lived openly as husband and wife. She eventually bore him a son.

In a Tamil folktale, a pregnant girl named Kantarupi is left alone in a wilderness. She is adopted by the prostitute Cauntaravalli, but when Kantarupi delivers a boy, the prostitute secretly instructs the midwife to kill the baby. Kantarupi is led to believe that she gave birth to a wooden doll by Cauntaravalli, who displays it to her. However, instead of killing the child, the midwife takes him to the forest and abandons him there. A passing king hears the baby's cries and adopts him as his own. When the now-adult boy is riding by the prostitutes' street one day, he is struck by the beauty of his mother, Kantarupi, and develops feelings for her. Kantarupi, who has up to this point maintained her purity, is pushed by Cauntaravalli into wedding the prince, and so their wedding is planned for that very evening. The next morning, after the prince spends the previous night grasping the bed sheets with his mother in his bed chamber, he steps out into the courtyard only to accidentally step on a calf that was dozing off by its mother. The mother cow calms the crying calf by asking, "What else can be expected from a man who never got to taste the amrita of his mother's bosom but instead embraces her complete body?" The prince, greatly confused by what he heard the cow say, starts an extensive investigation and learns that he is indeed the son of his own bride, whom he had just wed. Thus, the son's lust for his mother ultimately lead to their reunion.

In some Jain tales, a courtesan births a son a few years after birthing a daughter. She abandons both; they grow up separately, meet and consummate in marriage, but later recognize their kinship by the rings they wear; the son travels far, unknowingly meets his mother, becomes her lover, but unlike with his sister, he actually has a child with her. His first wife, who is also his older sister, comes to meet her mother for the first time, but after learning that her mother had a child with her younger brother, she addresses their son thus: "O child; you are my brother, brother-in-law, son of my co-wife, and nephew. Your father is my brother, husband, and step-father. Your mother is my mother, mother-in-law, co-wife, and my brother's wife." It is clear that in these Jain examples, the point of the tales is the destruction of the kinship diagram. Any child's ordered family world would be upended with such muddling of clear-cut kinship relations. That seems to be the poignancy of such folktales.

American

American Indian

In a Muisca myth, Bechué, the maize goddess of a small river had lost her infant son. A farmer and his wife found the baby and raised him as their son. He grew up, and one day, when he went to hunt for fish in the river he was born, he encountered Bechué in her human form and was enamoured by her beauty. Since that day they would frequently meet as she also took a liking to the charming handsome youth, not realizing he was her son. They eventually married and from their union, Bechué bore her son six children. They soon had a large family that inhabited the land. One day, when Bechué realized that her beloved husband was her own dear son, she took him back to the river with her and told their children to lead peaceful lives.

Himalayan

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.

Albanian

In one folktale the quatrain, "Nina nina hir! I hiri i t' em hir! I hiri i s'em ref S' ati vjehe'rr i ke Ie!" (Translation: Hush thee, hush thee, son! Son of my son! Son of my daughter-in-law! Born to thy father-in-law!"), is sung by a woman to the child she had by unwittingly marrying her own elder son. It marks the epilogue of the Oedipus story as told in Albania. As her elder son's wife the woman is daughter-in-law to his mother, that is to say, to herself. As the mother of her married son, the woman is mother-in-law to his wife, again herself. As her husband, her elder son is father-in-law where she is mother-in-law, and since she is her own mother-in-law, he is her father-in-law. Consequently, the baby is the child of a man who is son, husband, and father-in-law to one and the same woman, and she again is her own daughter-in-law and her own mother-in-law. The quatrain is a famous riddle in Albania, but it is even popular as a lullaby. Albanian mothers often add a line or more from the Oedipus quatrain. For example in Fier, a town in Central Albania, they commonly sing: "Nani nani biri im! Vellaj i burrit t' em!" (Translation: Hush thee, hush thee, my son! Brother of my husband!). Despite not giving their words any thought, they are extremely aware of the origin of the words.

Burmese

In a Burmese text, a woman named, Kin Saw U, loses her son named, Pauk Tyaing, in the woods. The lad grows up and a set of events propel him to the throne of the kingdom Kin Saw U rules as queen. Not knowing they are mother and son, they wed. She poses a riddle, though, before he could consummate their marriage. They agree that if he guesses it, she may die, and if he can not, he will. He solves the riddle, and lives, but he spares his mother, who later bears him two sons.

Other

"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 boy. 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 young boy, 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 made him feel likewise by seducing him. She had an affair with him, 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."

Great Flood/Deluge

The general outline of this theme is that all humans perish in a flood but one biologically related couple survives. After the flood settles they search for mates, but they find none, so they marry each other. Their union and its resulting procreation prevents the extinction of the human race. These incestuous narratives are widespread throughout the world. Moreover, the recitation always contains some justification for the incestuous act.

The theme of incestuous marriage following the flood comes under two different groups, one involving a brother-sister marriage, the other a mother-son marriage. However, the two distinctions show much more commonality than difference. The central motifs are:

1. Deluge (A1010)
2. Escape from deluge (A1020)
3. Brother-sister incest (T415.5), or mother-son marriage (T412)
4. New race from incest after global calamity (A1006.2)

Geographically, this theme appears in these countries or continents:

African

In an African legend, a girl chases away a goat for licking her flour, but it quickly comes back. Feeling sympathy for it, she allows the goat to eat as much of the flour as it wants. Out of gratitude for her kindness, it warns her of a huge flood. She and her brother pick up a few necessities and get as far as they could. As the goat warned, a flood engulfs their entire village. They find a habitable location and live there without meeting anyone else for years. Her brother wants to leave to find a wife. She does not want them to be separated, but he does not change his mind. The night before he was to depart, the goat reappears to the girl who is crying. It says that her brother's search would be futile as there were no other humans alive and that only the two of them could reproduce the human race. However, in order for them to get married, the goat told her that they had to break the bottom of a clay pot and hang it onto to the sharp corner of the roof. Then 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.

Chinese

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.

In a myth of the Miao people, A-Zie and his older sister are the sole survivors of a great flood. When he asks his older sister to marry him, she keeps refusing but eventually agrees to a test to qualify their union. Each will roll a millstone from opposite hills into a valley, and if they meet there, she will wed him. The test is carried out, but A-Zie runs to the valley floor and sets his millstone atop her millstone just before she arrives. Still reluctant, she suggests a second trial. This time they will throw knives into the valley, and if both land in a single sheath she will wed her younger brother. Again A-Zie arrives early and puts both knives in one sheath. So they marry and have a child, and that is how the world is repopulated.

In another brother-sister flood myth, every day, a girl and her younger brother feed a stone turtle. One time, while feeding it food, the turtle warns them of a great flood that would be coming. They hide in the turtle's belly, making them the only two surviving humans. Years later, the turtle remarks that whether or not the human race continues to exist is up to them. They both understand what the turtle is implying, but the girl thinks it's improper for her to marry her own younger brother so she adamantly refuses the idea. The turtle proposes that they have a trial of fate. Each sibling should roll a half of the same millstone down a different side of the mountain and if the halves rejoin, it would be a sign that they should marry. The girl, knowing how unlikely that would be, agrees. When they come to check the result, she is astonished to find her younger brother's half on top of hers as if the two were never separated. She wonders what it means, and the turtle explains that this is how the siblings must consummate their marriage. So with her younger brother on top of her, they connect as one and she conceives. With the birth of their children, they become the ancestors of the entire human race.

In another myth, which went among the Miao people in the Yunnan Province, a great flood leaves only a mother and her young son alive. The mother accidentally eats a nut that transforms her into a young woman. Meanwhile, the young man searches for his mother only to find her in her transformed state. He does not recognise her and quickly takes a liking to her. She is flattered and so does not tell him who she is. She pretends as if this is her first time meeting him, and he invites her to live with him. Even until his last breath, he never finds out that his own mother is the mother of all his children.

A popular Hmong origin myth narrates about a boy and his older sister being the only ones to survive the flood by staying in the hollow of a wooden funeral drum. Each of their children become the ancestor of a unique clan.

In a version from the Ch'uan Miao, a boy drops a thread from one side of the mountain and his older sister tosses a needle from the other side. To their surprise, they find the needle threaded. Thus, the siblings likewise become threaded in marriage and their daughter is born the following year. A version of mother-son marriage after the deluge is known from the same area too.

Japanese

Incestuous marriage between a mother and her son is a motif which is widespread in the circumpacific area of Hachijō Island. In an ancient tale, a tidal wave kills all life except a pregnant lady named Tanaba, who survives by holding to a wax tree. She brings forth a boy. He grows up unaware of the taboo of producing children with a blood-relative and so his mother easily convinces him to be her husband. The two become the ancestors of the islanders.

Indian

Numerous variants of brother-sister unions following the flood are found from the Bhuiya, Maria, Bondo, Gabada, Kond, Saora and Kol among the tribal area of central India. A variant of mother-son union following the flood is reported from the Gabada of the same location too.

Siberia

In an Udege myth, a girl and her younger brother are the sole survivors of a great flood. They became the progenitors of the whole human race. There are also many Udege tales about the trouble of finding a spouse from another clan as distances are large, resources are uncertain, and people are always moving. When the search fails, a girl may make a family unit with her brother. The children they have together becomes the future of the clan.

Taiwanese

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

Among the Taiwanese aboriginals, only the Sedec tribe preserved the tale of mother-and-son incest. In this tale, there are no men and only one woman. She is pregnant and bears a boy, but he later reaches the age when he desires the touch of a woman. He has only one option and his mother is willing as she sees it as a way of fulfilling her own desires of having more children. They become the ancestors of the Taroko clan.

In a Formosan version of this myth, a brother and his older sister are saved from a flood by a wooden mortar that floats them up a mountain. They look for mates but finding none except each other, they marry. They bear healthy children, thereby becoming the tribe's ancestors.

In an Atayal myth, a brother and his older sister are the only humans to survive. They both have qualities that complement their relationship. The male youth is strong and hardworking, while the girl is clever and lively. One day, the boy tells his sister that as much as he enjoys her company, he wants a partner like the animals of the woods and skies do. His sister responds that it's impossible since there is no other human girl aside from her. Seeing her brother sad, she comes up with a plan. The next day, the boy spots a girl with face paintings near the cave at the base of the mountain. He approaches her and she warmly greets him. The boy immediately falls in love and since then, he meets her everyday. Soon, he realizes that he’s been spending more time with his new friend than his sister so he informs his sister of his desire to marry the girl. To his surprise, his sister opposes the marriage. After an argument, she tells him that if he proceeds with this decision, then he will never see his sister again. The brother upset, says he’s fine with that. The next morning, he is shocked to find his sister gone. After searching for days, he realizes that his sister was serious about never seeing her again. Although he felt regret, he invites the girl at the cave to move in with him. Thus, she became what would later be called his "wife" and they had many children together. Of course, the boy's bride was none other than his own older sister who had burnt sticks and applied the charcoal to her face as a disguise. That is why from that day on Atayal girls, before marrying, would always have their faces tattooed.

Fillipino

The Mandaya of Mindanao have a myth of a big flood killing all except a pregnant lady. A son, named Uacatan (Watakan), is born to her. When the son grows up, he weds his mother, and from this union all humans arise.

In the Philippines, brother-sister marriages following a flood are reported from the Ifugao, Isneg, and Igorot.

The Ifugaos describe a tale of a drought evaporating all the waters. Hoping to find the soul of the river, the villagers dig the ground. After several days of this, a great spring bursts forth. However, while they are all jubilating, the angered river causes water to cover the land. People try fleeing to either of two mountains peaks, one at each end of the village. None make it except for two, a brother and his older sister, Wigan and Bugan respectively. Wigan settles on the top of Mount Amuyao and Bugan on the top of Mount Kalawitan. There are fruits and nuts on both of the mountain tops to sustain them. After half a decade, the waters recede. The siblings come down from their respective mountains and settle down at the valley together. A couple of months later, Bugan realizes that she is carrying her younger brother's child. Feeling guilty, she runs away from their home. Tired after a long journey and overcome with sorrow, she falls to the ground only to meet the river who takes on the form of an elderly man. He comforts her, saying that her shame holds no water and that she has done no wrong. For through Bugan and her younger brother, the world will be repeopled again.

Korean

A Korean legend narrates how a huge flood transforms the planet into a big sea, leaving just a brother and his older sister on a mountain peak. When the water subsides, the siblings descend down, only to find no one else alive. The siblings realize this means only they can repeople the earth. Unsure about breaking the incest taboo, they decide to do a test. Each of them go up two different mountain peaks that are positioned near each other. The girl rolls down the bedstone (female stone) of a millstone, and the boy rolls down the runner stone (male stone). When they return down, they find their stones stuck together at the center of the valley. (In another variation, they put pine branches on fire and smoke intertwines in mid-air.) The siblings take this as an indication to marry and so mankind persists with the siblings as their progenitors.

Thai

The Kammu tradition in northern Thailand includes flood myths, characterized by a sexual union of the sole two survivors, often a brother and an older sister in order to repeople the earth. The young siblings are initially reluctant until some omen persuades them of the necessity of their coupling.

In one version, a brother and his older sister try to dig out a bamboo rat. As they keep digging, the bamboo rat keeps going deeper down until it asks, "Why are you trying to dig me out? A big flood will destroy all your land, which is why I must go deep deep down to survive." So the two youngsters make a drum. When the flooding starts, they crawl into the hollow and caulk it with wax along the rim. When they come out after the flood dries up, they find no one alive. The girl tells the boy to go north and marry the first girl he sees while she heads south to marry the first man she meets. The boy travels, but no matter where he goes, he sees no one until at last, he sees a lady at a mountain from a distance. The lady also sees him and proceeds to meet him. He thinks he finally got a wife but as she gets nearer, he realizes that it is his own older sister. The girl also initially thinks she could be becomes his wife until she recognizes her younger brother. With neither able to find anyone else, the younger brother suggests they marry each other, but his older sister convinces him that as siblings, that can not be done. One day, the girl stumbles across a malkoha cuckoo. Delightfully surprised to see one, she goes closer to it. It begins cooing to her, "You must embrace your younger brother!" Soon after, she rushes to tell the boy of this news. It is in the fifth year after they first emerged from the drum that she bears her younger brother's first child.

Wagers

In tales, where characters take chances and make competitive wagers about prospective spouses, there may be themes and overtones of incest.

Italian

In an Italian tale, a king orders all women of noble birth to jump over a rose bush without touching it, and the one who succeeds must wed his son, the prince. The royal decree is ill-conceived, for this unwittingly qualifies even the prince's older sister. However, despite the king's authority, this legal technicality is unable to be overlooked. She therefore tries to deliberately lose the contest, but instead unexpectedly clears it. Thus, the king is obliged to offer his son the hand of his own daughter.

Russian

In a Russian fairytale, a queen has a magical ring that qualifies her love for her husband, the king. The young prince is given his mother’s ring with the condition that he can only wed the girl whose finger it fits, but no noblewoman who tries can get it to fit. So he laments his fate to his servant, who doubts he has tried every noblewoman yet. His servant reminds him that the ring will qualify only the sweetheart who truly loves the prince. So the prince falls down, acting dead, at an event where all the noblewomen are there. When only the princess, his older sister, falls on him with a great cry, he assures her he is fine. Sure enough, when she puts on her mother's ring, it fits exactly, proving that she is the suitable bride of her younger brother. After they wed, they start having second thoughts about their marriage. So unlike most newlywed lovers, they do not rush their play in the bedchamber, only accepting as little hugs and kisses as possible. However, as they go on, their kinship libido slowly grows. In the end, their "second thoughts" fail to halt the consummation of their royal union.

Sudanese

In a Sudanese text, the son of Nimêr finds a lock of hair and decides to wed the girl whose hair it is. Fâtimah, his elder sister, alters all her physical features, including her hair, to deter any potential advances from her younger brother for he is unaware that the hair is hers. However, this prevention is only fleeting. This new look works against her for he, not recognising his older sister, gets enamoured with her physical features. He dares her to a game of her choice, with the caveat that if he wins, she will wed him. Picking a game she had always beaten him when they were children, she agrees, but he ultimately beats her for the first time. So despite her best efforts, the girl ends up wedding her younger brother anyway. The formulaic ending, “And they lived in affluence and stability and she bore her younger brother many boys and girls," conveys the incestuous act.

Miscellaneous

Greek

Divine

In Greek mythology, Gaia (earth) bore six male and six female Titans to her son, Uranus (sky). The male Titans were Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Lapeteus, and Cronus. The female Titans were Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, and Tethys. Oceanus, Coeus, Hyperion and Cronus each consorted with one of their sisters and mated with them, producing offspring of their own, while Themis and Mnemosyne became wives of their nephew Zeus, Iapetus married his niece Clymene, and Crius married his half-sister Eurybia.

Uranus imprisoned the offspring he detested deep in the earth. Gaia, mourning their loss, plotted revenge against him and got her youngest son Cronus to help 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 Cronus with his older sister Rhea, the six Olympian deities (Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus) were born. Two of them, Zeus and his older sister Hera, followed the footsteps of their parents and also became husband and wife. According to Hesiod, the children of Zeus and Hera included Ares, Eileithyia, and Hebe. 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 Hera to that first encounter ("unforgettable first experience" or "unforgettable first intercourse"). Zeus also fathered a daughter, Persephone, with his other older sister, Demeter. However, the orphic sources claim that Persephone was instead the daughter of Zeus and his mother Rhea.

Nyx and Erebus were also married siblings. The sea god Phorcys fathered many offspring by his sister Ceto.

Among the many lovers of Zeus, some were his daughters. 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. Other examples include Zeus's relations with the Muse Calliope, Aphrodite (his daughter in some versions) and Nemesis (his daughter in one tradition).

Mortal

Myrrha committed incest with her father, Theias, and bore Adonis.

Thyestes raped his daughter Pelopia after an oracle advised him that a son born of them would be the one to kill Atreus, Thyestes' brother and rival.

Byblis fell in love with her younger brother, Caunus, and tried to convince him into having a sexual relationship with her by pointing out how many immortals also had incestuous relationships. Having failed to seduce him, she changed into a spring in her grief over her unrequited love.

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.

Phlegyas slept with his own mother and begot Coronis. Menephron of Arcadia lived incestuously with both his mother and his older sister.

Norse

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 before their alliance with the Aesir, and it was customary for them to produce offspring.

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.

African

In Beti-Pahuin Mythology, Bela Mindzi's child produced from her union with her younger brother becomes the leader of Engong, Akoma Mba. The epic hero, Akoma Mba, is carried by his mother in her womb for 150 years, after which he is born. To protect her brother's honor, Bela Mindzi says that Mba, a man who married her, is the father.

In an African tale, a girl called Diirawic is very beautiful. Fed up with men constantly asking her for her hand in marriage, she realizes she needs a better reason for rejecting them than just refusing them as it is not stopping them. When she refuses the next stranger’s marriage proposal, this time she points at a young boy, named Teeng, who is at a distance, and says that she is engaged to be married to him. They had often see her with him before so everyone is convinced she’s telling the truth. Since then, no man approaches her, and Diirawic is happy that her lie works. One day, someone congratulates her supposed husband, Teeng, and asks him when their marriage is, gesturing to Diirawic who is playing with children at a distance. It is revealed that Teeng is actually her younger brother. Teeng thinks it is some kind of joke, but soon he learns a lot of people think the same thing and that it is Diirawic who told them that. He wonders if perhaps his older sister wants to marry him. He has always seen men asking his sister for marriage and some even offered a hundred cows for her bride-wealth, but she would still refuse. Their mother thinks it is because Diirawic is in love with someone else, and now Teeng wonders if that someone is himself. Teeng then asks his mother, "Can Diirawic, my older sister, and I marry?" His mother says, "I have never heard of such a thing. You should go and ask your father." He went to all his relatives and they all tell him to ask someone else. Finally his mother's sister says, "My child, if you want each other, what can I say! Marry if that is your wish. You are brother and sister." Diirawic is unaware of all this. One day as she is fishing at the river with the girls, a bird drops an ox tail right on her lap. She recognises it as belonging to her brother's favourite ox, Mijok, and she is worried if it died. They return to find out that Teeng had slaughtered Mijok to celebrate their marriage. Diirawic does not admit she was lying as it would bring great shame to her and Teeng. So she pretends like she is her younger brother's happy bride even to the point of entering his hut. She tells Teeng the truth and so they do not go any further than sharing the hut to sleep in. While in his hut she did nothing like a wife, in front of everyone’s eyes she truly is her younger brother’s wife. With her shacking up together with him, people expect that it is only a matter of time before she will bear her younger brother’s children. Her parents are also expecting grandchildren as her younger brother is the heir of the household. Diirawic learns that there are some lies she cannot get away without making them true. With no other choice, she tells Teeng he can forget she his older sister for one night. A year later, she bears Teeng a daughter and then, to their parents’ delight, a son the year after that. She makes her younger brother proud by bearing him twelve children in all. So it turns out that there is more than one night in their hut that she spends not as his older sister but rather as his wife.

In another tale, a man named Kauha abandons his underfed wife but takes his son with him. However, unbeknownst to Kauha, his son secretly makes his mother follow them and frequently slips food to her, restoring her beauty in the process. However, once when returning to Kauha from his mother, some insects bite his phallus, causing it to swell up. When he tells Kauha he's upset about it, Kauha just laughs and tells him to be glad for getting a big phallus as it is very helpful in taking a wife. In light of this, he considers his mother's stunning change and develops the desire to wed her. So one evening, he goes to his mother’s camp, and demands her to make a fire to warm themselves. He spoke to her in a way that made her feel more like his wife than his mother and she scolds him for it, but she nevertheless agrees to his demand. He then tells her that he no longer wants to be her son. Realising he wants to wed her, she gets upset. Then he recalls Kauha’s words about taking a wife. Meanwhile, Kauha looks all night for his son who hasn't returned, only to find his son pinning down a curvy girl and giving her a good screw. Despite noticing Kauha's presence, he keeps lying on top of her as he is afraid of what Kauha will do if he sees her face. Kauha demands to know who this lovely lady is. His mother, after enjoying his size the entire night, is now willing to grant her son's earlier wish to wed her. So when she realizes that her estranged husband does not recognise her due to her new appearance, she takes advantage of this and right away introduces herself as his son’s lovely "wife" before turning to her son, asking, "Right, my husband?" Thus, Kauha unknowingly accepts his own wife as his daughter-in-law, giving his son the marital rights to continue doing what he wants with his mother.

Egyptian

In Egyptian mythology, there are frequent sibling marriages. For example, Shu and Tefnut are brother and sister and they produce offsprings, Geb and Nut. Geb and Nut are siblings, who like their parents, are also in love with each other, but are forced to stay apart by their father, Shu, to keep order in the cosmos. This leads Geb to challenge Shu's reign, which causes the latter to withdraw from the world. Geb subsequently either forcefully copulates with his mother, Tefnut, or she willingly became his chief queen; thus Geb separates Shu from his sister-wife, as Shu had previously separated Geb from his sister-wife, Nut.

Geb and Nut produce Isis, Osiris, Set and Nephthys. Two of them, Isis and her younger brother, Osiris, rule jointly as husband and wife, and they bring fertility to the Nile valley. Their other two siblings, Set and Nephthys, also marry. According to some myths, Osiris also has physical relations with his other sister, Nephthys, by mistaking her for his sister-wife, Isis. However, Set gets jealous of Osiris so he kills him by dismembering his body. Isis manages to revive her brother-husband long enough for them to have sexual intercourse for the first time. Via a magical phallus, Isis conceives her younger brother's son, and names him Horus. Horus himself later has his own mother, Isis, become his imperial consort.

In an Egyptian tale, a woman takes refuge in a tree to avoid the fate of having to marry her younger brother. Years later, a man convinces her to climb down from the tree and she takes a liking to him. She eventually marries him and they have children without either of them realizing they are siblings.

In an Egyptian story, there is once a widowed woman with a daughter and son. Before the widow died, she tells her daughter to look after her brother as he is younger than her. Each year the daughter asks him what he would do with their parents' money if she were to give it to him, and after many years of childish answers, she again asks him the same. This time he replies that he would get them both married. Finally acknowledging him to be a grownup man, she gives all of their parents' possessions over to him. One day he finds a girl he is interested in marrying, but his sister disapproves of her character. He marries her anyway so his sister accepts her into their home and hopes for the best. However, her brother's wife is actually a witch and she despises her sister-in-law for her reluctance in letting them marry. One day, the brother's wife cooks up "pregnancy eggs". She feeds it to her sister-in-law. The sister's abdomen swells up. When her brother notices this, he is disgusted that his sister allowed this to happen out of wedlock and so on the day the both of them go to visit their parents' grave, he abandons her at a deserted place. When it gets dark, she cries and wails for the beloved son of her parents to return. The kind dwellers of the place ask her what is wrong, and she tells them her story of what her sister-in-law has done to her and her brother's abandonment. They build her a palace surrounded by all kinds of fruits. One day, she sneezes and two pigeons come out of her nostrils. Her abdomen retracts and she transforms into a beautiful woman. The pigeons fly to her brother's house and reveal the truth about the wicked deed his wife did to his sister, and so he burns his wife. The brother asks the pigeons for where his sister is, but the pigeons hold a grudge against him for deserting her so they tell him that she died. Then they fly to the direction where he abandoned his sister. He hurries to that place in horseback, but finds a palace at the middle of the changed landscape. It is surrounded by suitors wanting to marry the princess who resides there. The princess declares she will marry any man who can answer her one question, but no man is getting it right. Curious about what the question is, the brother decides to participate. From her window, the princess asks him, “If you had a sister and you were both orphaned, but your parents left you an inheritance, what would you do with it?” He is surprised by how similar the question is to the one his sister always used to ask him, and so he answers the princess that he would get both him and his sister married. The princess declares him as her new husband. However, the brother explains to the princess he only entered the contest out of curiosity and never actually intended to marry her. He explains to her his story and how he wants to find his sister and ask for her forgiveness. The princess tells him she already knows and then asks the two pigeons to welcome him into the palace. The brother realizes the princess is his sister. They embrace and cry in each other's arms as her brother admits he made a grave mistake. They establish a new kingdom and have children together.

Berber

In a Berber variant, a woman gives her little brother a herb that transforms him into the same age she is. Finding him handsome, she seduces and sleeps with him under a tree shade.

Nupe

In one tale, a sick woman divulges to her son that he has a sister who was given up for adoption before his birth. His mother dies so he goes in search for his sister, but ends up stopping at another country and working there. Meanwhile, his boss is looking for a potential husband for his daughter. Seeing the boy is decent, he decides they would be a good match. After the boy accepts, they are quickly married. The boy gives up searching for his sister, and takes his bride home with him. When the boy's wife, recognizes the boy's hometown and house, which she used to live in, she realizes that she is his sister, whom he was looking for. However, she decides to keep it to herself for the sake of his child, who she is already pregnant with.

Haya

In a folk tale, a girl is tasked with teaching her younger brother how to pasture the goats. A few months after he leaves for another country, the girl’s swollen belly is visible to her parents. She simply tells them that the father is a traveller that had already long left.

Chinese

In Chinese mythology, Fu Xi is a king who takes his sister Nüwa as his bride.

In the legend of Hainan Island, the only inhabitant is a pregnant woman, who gives birth to a boy after her husband dies from an illness. After growing up, the boy goes hunting for them while she tills the ground. One day, he points out to his mother that they were the only woman and man around. She, repulsed by what her son is suggesting, tells him that they cannot live together anymore. His mother leaves him while he embarks on a journey in search of a woman to marry. A year later he comes to the central part of the island and is exicted to finally find a woman. He tries to befriend her, but as she is actually his mother who he fails to recognise due to the black markings she put on her face, she avoids him. After several months of this, it starts to rain heavily. Feeling concerned for her son who lay out at night without any shelter in the cold, she invites him in for just those rainy nights. However, even after the rainy season ends, she allows him to continue passing the nights with her in her dark warm hut. She eventually bears his children, but she never lets him find out that the mother of his children is his own mother. Their descendants are the Hiai Ao tribe and this is why their women have tattoo marks on their faces.

Japanese

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. For this reason, it has been thought that the brothers and sisters that married in these myths were younger brothers and older sisters.

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 Amaterasu and various other deities.

Indonesian

In an Indonesian creation myth from Sulawesi, a woman named Lumimu'ut is told by a bird that the earth will be populated through her and her son, Toar. However, she is reluctant and asks the bird if there is another way. So the wise bird gives her a stick that is just a tiny bit taller than her and then tells her that within five years her son must marry a woman who is shorter than this stick. Five years pass and Toar fails to find any woman so he returns home only to find that Lumimu'ut is now shorter than the stick she gave him. So Lumimu'ut and her son become the ancestors of all humans just as the bird predicted.

Icelandic

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.

British/Irish

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.

Danand, a minor character in Irish mythology, is said to have conceived three sons with her own father

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.

Bresail was a druid who wanted to construct a tower that would reach into the sky. His older sister cast a spell which froze the sun in the sky so that the men constructing the tower would continue their labours until it was done. However, the spell was broken when she slept with her brother, Bresail. Darkness was brought upon the land, and this resulted in the abandonment of the project.

In an Irish myth, King Conchobar mac Nessa and his troops pursue a great bird toward a house, not realising that the bird is an avatar of his older sister, Deichtine. Since she can not afford to be recognised, she adopts a human form, though not her own. In a different guise, Deichtine poses as the lady of the house and opens the door for the king. Unaware that his hostess is his older sister, Conchobar claims the "droit du seigneur," his well-known privilege to sleep with any woman of his choosing, on her. Since she cannot afford to reveal her identity to him in front of his men and run the risk of disclosing the royal family's closely-guarded secret abilities to the common-folk, she keeps up her fake identity and tells her younger brother that she is more than happy to oblige him in whatever he wishes. Several months after that fateful night, she gives birth to a boy and the people of Ulster soon notice that her son bears an uncanny likeness to her younger brother.

Vietnamese

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").

Indian

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 ago, 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 military, 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, every day 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.

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.

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 a sister with 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 she sexually united with her younger brother. However, the siblings could not face the shame of their act after its completion. They fled away from the earth and up to the sky to become the sun and the moon.

In a different of the Mahadeva legend, when Mahâdeva was a boy, after his father had abandoned him and his mother for a commercial venture, he thought: "I will look for the woman who is the fairest of face and most surpassingly beautiful in the world," and though he looked for her, he never found her. He went home, and noticed that his mother was "fair of face and surpassingly beautiful." In his mind, there was no woman finer than her. However, she was unwilling to have intercourse with him. After six years of him continuously asking her, she finally agreed with the condition that he must marry her as she did not want to share a bed or be embraced in the arms of a man that was not her husband. So she became her son's wife.

In the Aṅguttara Nikāya, a poor lady initiated her son as a monk in Savatthi. For this reason, they were not allowed to see each other often even though they yearned to. They would use moments they would share things they procured as opportunities for meeting. They would happily meet morning and evening looking after each other's health. From making efforts to meet often, rapport blossomed, from rapport, intimacy and the end of their familial relationship. Without making their feelings conspicuous to others, with love-struck sentiments, they crossed the line and consummated their affectionate bond.

In a story about the exile of the sons of a particular king Okkaka, the king exiled the sons and daughters born from his former head queen as he now had a new bride and promised to make the children from his new marriage the successors to the throne. However, before the left, their father reminded them of the prohibition of marrying anyone outside of their caste. The former princes alongside their older sisters, the princesses, arrived at the river Bhagirathi. The former princes constructed shacks from trees and resided there, surviving by hunting animals for them and their sisters. The princes did not find any girls who were suitable to be their wives or any boys for their older sisters. Mindful of their father's belief that offsprings produced from such unions would be defective, they did not wish to blend the castes. But they found their youthful desires too overwhelming and were seriously burdened by ardors and cravings so they approached a respected elderly man for advice. The elderly man told them that their sisters were of the same caste and nothing in their father's prohibition extended to them. So they returned to their sisters, and each of the former princes took one of their older sisters as their wife all the while adhering to the rites of marriage. The former princesses soothed the fervors and yearnings of their younger brother and in place gave them delight and bliss by having very enjoyable relations with their brother-husbands. On a later occasion, the king fondly recalled his exiled children and asked what happened to them. His counsellors informed him that his children had kept to his instructions regarding marriage and his older daughters had married his younger sons, bearing their younger brothers both boys and girls.

In a Jataka tale, a king and queen persistently urged their son to marry as they wished for him to succeed as king, but he did not. At last, he made a golden image of a woman and informed his parents that if they found a woman who was as pretty as the image, he would take the throne. They posted the image all over India, but without success. The king and queen had a daughter, who was older than their son, and she was considered the most beautiful woman in the kingdom. Finding no one else, they ornamented her and she reluctantly agreed to be presented before her brother. He was initially puzzled as to why she was sent to him, but he understood when he saw her stand next to the image and outclass it. He was forced to hold to his agreement and his older sister was made the principal consort in his rulership. The siblings made a pact between themselves that even as husband and wife they would live together in total chastity. So they lived this way in the same bedchamber, sleeping next to each other without any physical intimacy. However, after several years, desire began to burn in them leading them to lay eyes on the other. Losing control of their senses, they finally consummated their relationship and his older sister bore him a daughter.

Pūsan is the lover of his older sister.

One of the late Upanishads pose a riddle: If a male youth is pressing and enjoying the bosom from which he used to suck, and enjoying the womb from which he was born, who is his wife? The logical conclusion is that his wife is, in fact, his mother.

In a folktale, a young man named Kora declares that he will wed the woman who picks a certain flower, and his own older sister picks the flower. Adamant on keeping his word, Kora tries proposing to his older sister, but she rejects his advances. Then, one day they each lit a fire with a vast distance between each other. To his sister’s shock, the smoke trails from their fires converge. Seeing the smoke blend, those present conclude, "It is plain that the marriage of this brother and sister is inevitable." Thus, she accepts her fate and starts sleeps with her younger brother.

American

American Indian

In an Inuit myth, a man who has seduced a woman visits her every night. Using the cover of night, he hides his identity. To find him, the woman mixes soot with oil and rubs it on her bosom. The next morning she sees that her younger brother’s lips are soot-blackened. Realizing that her lover is really her younger brother, she turns into the sun and he into the moon. Each time he mates with his older sister, the sun gets eclipsed.

A myth narrated by the Iroquois and Algonkian had four main characters: a woman ("Woman"), her younger brother ("Brother"), her younger brother's lookalike ("Double"), and the lookalike's mother ("The Witch"). Some unidentified man tried to sneak into Woman's room in order to sleep with her. Woman caught a glimpse of the man's face and saw that the resemblance matches Brother. When she confronted her younger brother about it, he denied that it was him. To prove his innocence, he stayed awake the next night and in the presence of his older sister successfully caught the true culprit, Double. Brother then killed Double. However, Brother would be in danger if The Witch, Double's mother, were to learn of her son's death. So Woman gave Brother an idea. She told him to pretend to be The Witch's son and so he did. However, The Witch began to grow suspicious of her son's sudden change in demeanor and she was also aware of the fact that her son had a double. One day, she asked her son why he was no longer pursuing Woman, the girl he was in love with. Fearful for her younger brother's life, Woman married Brother, believing that their marriage would put a stop to The Witch's suspicions. Years passed and the two had no children. The Witch was once again suspicious. Seeing no other choice, Woman and Brother reluctantly had sexual intercourse and she bore him a child. After that, The Witch no longer had a reason to think that he was Brother and she finally accepted that Brother was her son, Double.

In a foundational myth of the Inca, Inti, the sun deity, married his older sister, the moon deity Mama Killa. Manco Cápac with his older sister, Mama Ocllo (Oello) as his wife, were sent to the planet to create the Inca kingdom.

There is a Yaghan/Yamana folk literature about a brother and his sister. From their earliest youth they lived with their parents and were raised together. When the brother had grown a bit older, he fell in love with his own older sister. He therefore tried in every way possible to try and get her to sleep with him. His sister had long noticed his intention. She avoided him every time, because the people around them considered intercourse with her younger brother to be prohibited. Yet she was of two minds, half-willing, half-unwilling. The brother realized he had to find a way to get her to willingly be with him without embarrassing her so he considered what pretext he should use to get her to be alone with him without arousing suspicion from their parents or the other people. In the forest, he befriended a couple of black birds and he shared his problem with them. They led him to some big berries in an isolated clearing in the forest. This gave him a sly idea. If he accompanied his sister here to pick up these berries, it will not be strange to his parents. He promptly ran back to his hut and told his family: "I have found big berries in a certain place in the forest." Their mother told his sister to go there with her brother. The girl took her basket and hurried to the woods with her brother. Once they were far from everybody, he began caressing her. By the time they reached the place, they both laid down, embraced each other, and yielded to their desires. Since then, they would use their time picking up the big red berries as an opportunity to carry out their pleasure secretly.

There is also a Yaghan/Yaman tale about a mother and her son. The mother was awed when she one day discovered the size of her young son's penis, and that he could successfully have intercourse with her. The tale emphasized on the pleasure the mother derived from the secret relations she had with her son.

A folk tale told by the Cree Indians of North America is about a son trying to return to his mother while she assists and safeguards him from individuals that are trying to obstruct his task. The tale begins with a man, who had a wife and a son. He was paranoid and jealous of the affection between them. The father took his son faraway from home, and abandoned him. However, the son tried to make his way home by himself. Two witches, the dangerous representatives of the father and enemies of the son's growth, worked to prevent the reunion of the mother and son. In the journey, he was aided by benevolent individuals and he became a powerful man, capable of displacing his father in the end. He reunited with his mother, and then ironically, the father's fears came true. The mother and son became lovers, and spent the rest of their life happily together.

There are several Ojibwe stories that contain incest:

A girl's parents died so she raised her brother who was a fair bit younger. She was asked for her hand four times - she refused, saying she had to look after her brother. Men then began talking, "Let her wed her own brother then." When her brother grew up, she was ready to marry but no man was willing to marry her and no one was willing to give their daughter to her brother. People would laugh at them and they were shamed. Having no other choice she married her own brother, and they had three boys and one girl. When her children found out people talking about them, they asked their mother if the claims were true. "If our father is from here, where did you come from?" they would ask. "I came from the Hudson Bay," she would answer them. Their children believed her. They then moved to camp at Duck Lake as no one they knew passed there.

A woman was lived with her son in the same tent. Her youthful son was growing into a fairly skilled hunter. After putting their meat for drying in their camp, the adolescent went to bed. Now there were fewer people in the old times, nearly all relatives faced more temptation than now. He thought of the womanly charms of his mother, and invited her to sleep with him. She called him crazy for asking his mother that. As he slept on his bed, he felt frustrated that his mother refused him. He wanted a woman no matter who she was. In the morning, he told her that he was leaving. When she asked, "Where to?" He said that if she was not going to give him what he wanted, he had to search elsewhere. She told him he can't even cook his own food. But he said he was fine with that even if it meant starving to death. She then begged him to not leave her as she would be all alone without any of his great support. When she realized he was firm in not saying with her, she yelled at him and said that she regretted raising him. So she watched her young boy leave and felt sorry that she refused him. She waited the night, thinking he would come back to her. When he did not, she cried, cried, and cried. The next evening, she was so glad because he came back! She cooked the meat he brought back and they merrily ate together. She then went into their tent and he followed after her. Her bed stayed empty for the rest of the night. At dawn, she quietly left her son's bedside without disturbing his sleep and slipped on her clothes. She had finally let her son get what he wanted from her. She started to worry now after the intimacy she had with her son. The next night when her son expected the same, she told him that what they did was not right and if he wanted her as a woman again, they must first marry. She was not very old so no one ever guessed her son's sensible wife was his own mother.

There is a legend about the North Wind. Pindakik [Biindakik], one winter, came from the north to visit his mother while his father was away somewhere. Some time after her son left, people started to realize she was pregnant; a baby was birthed subsequently. By then, her husband returned after nearly a year. He gave her a chance to explain how this happened. She told him it was blown into her by the North Wind. The father inquired from the neighbors and they all told him the only contact she had with a male was Pindakik, their son. Whenever he would ask her again, she would always blame the North Wind. He then sent his wife away. After a while, he got curious about his wife's whereabouts and did some investigation. He found out that his wife was living with a man in the North and she was pregnant again. He wondered if the northern man was the one who ruined their marriage and if that was what she meant by the North Wind. He travelled to the north and discovered the man who was looking after her was his own son, Pindakik. His wife never confessed about sexual relations with their son, but that was what her husband suspected. Since then women have invoked the "North Wind" to maintain secrecy of their sexual relations with their own sons.

Hawaiian

In an ancient Hawaiian myth, the cosmic couple who gave birth to the Hawaiian islands were a brother and his older sister. This became the basis for a custom called pi'o, intentional incestuous copulation within the upper class. Extensive genealogies were maintained to produce the most inbred (and thus, "powerful") chiefs possible. Commoners were forbidden to do this out of fear that they would begin producing offspring with chief-like levels of mana.

Contemporary

Incest legends depend for their effect on an assumed shared abhorrence of incest. As a result of this shared set of values, accusations of incest can be used as a way to denigrate a particular group of people. There are jokes told in Georgia which are used to put down other Southerners, including people from Alabama and Arkansas, mountain people, and "white trash". For example:

Q: "How do you know if an Alabama girl is on her period?"

A: "Her brother's dick tastes funny."

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.

Korean

In a Korean legend about the origins of the "Dallae (Relief) River", a sister helps her brother with his incestuous impulses. Long long ago, the parents of a daughter and son met a sudden death. The daughter with help from her younger brother made a living farm land from the other side of the stream. One summer, the stream rose following heavy rains and the girl, to stop from getting her clothes soaked, removed them to cross the water. As her brother followed behind, lust stirred in his heart and he was appalled by the desire he had for his own blood. Overcome with remorse and shame, he picked up a stone to kill himself. However, before he struck himself his sister stopped him and expressed shock and grief at what he was about to do to himself. "Your desires are understandable. I am the only female around. You can talk to me and I would have given you relief, why do you have to die?" And so she wed her brother to soothe his lust.

Middle Eastern

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.

Yemeni

A tale from Yemen narrates of a brother and his older sister living only by themselves till he gets a wife who his sister discouraged marrying. One day, while he is away, his wife, out of spite, kicks his sister out of the house. An old woman adopts her and takes her to another city. When the brother returns, he kicks his wife out upon finding his sister gone. After years of looking for her, he gives up and moves into the very city she is in. He is hired by the king. Then one day sees his older sister but, unable to identify her, falls in love with her instead. He asks the king for the girl in marriage. She, on the other hand, identifies her younger brother but wanting to teach him a lesson, goes along with the wedding. She asks that a variety of beds be made. Then, on the wedding night, she coquettishly leads her younger brother to a bed while being fully aware of who he is. Then, just as he is about to consummate their marriage, she leads him to another bed, and so on. After this extended seductive act, she tells her younger brother the truth. She returns with her younger brother as his good wife to their old home, where she finally lets him consummate their marriage. Thus, she gets pregnant by him.

Iranian

In a later Middle Iranian myth, Yimeh married her younger brother, Yima, and she gave birth to the humans.

In one of the Persian courtly romances, Vis, a princess, was convinced to marry her younger brother Viru by her mother, who argued that no other husband was worthy of her. She was duly married to him, and the marriage was consummated.

Iraqi

In an Iraqi folktale, a merchant and his wife died, leaving their daughter and son all by themselves. The daughter, being the older one, raised her brother up and he followed his father's footsteps, becoming a merchant, while she managed the house. A neighbor girl asked the sister to allow her to marry her younger brother, but the sister refused. Angered with the sister, the neighbor girl took the sister to a faraway place and plucked her eyes out. The sister is healed by a woman who then taught her the skill. The woman died and the sister took her place as a healer. The brother and to-be-wife (the neighbor girl) travelled from afar to meet the famous healer. The brother had become blind and the neighbor girl had elephantiasis. The sister without hesitation healed her younger brother, but told the neighbor girl to leave and trouble them no more. The neighbor girl sorrowfully left. The brother was overjoyed to see his sister who the neighbor girl convinced him was dead. The sister took her brother to the house that the woman physician had left for her, and they lived together there. The brother in his loneliness asked his sister to marry him as he did not trust anyone else. She agreed and became his lover. They had one son together.

Estonian

A brother wanted to marry his beautiful older sister, but she was reluctant. A mouse advised the sister how to test if what her brother felt towards her was lust or love. 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.

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.

Papuan

In a Trobriand myth, a girl creates a love potion that her younger brother accidentally brushes against, causing some of the oil to drop on him. He asks his mother, 'Where is the woman? Where is my sister?' This is a dreadful thing to do, for no boy should inquire about his sister, nor should he speak of her as a woman. Finally, at noon, the brother finds his sister on the beach, bathing without her fibre skirt. In the evening, their mother is shocked to catch them embracing in the shallow water while clasping in each other’s arms. Ashamed by the sight, she leaves them be until the fire of their passion is quenched.

In a Papuan story, Kambel hates his son, Gufa, for his undersized body so he tries to get rid of him by a supposed toxic chemical he finds, but this makes the boy to grow bigger instead. Kambel is initially happy at his son’s change, but when he sees his wife, Yumar, ogling Gufa's new physique, he becomes envious for he is old now. Then one day when he sees her kissing their son warmly in a way that Kambel is never given, he snaps and falsely charges Yumar with infidelity. She waits for her chance to have revenge. One day, when Kambel leaves Yumar and their son alone in the village, Gufa sits in front of Yumar as she braids the grass streamers in his hair. When she sees that her son's libido is roused, she does not stop for she wants to get even with Kambel. Instead, she goes about the rest of the day without wearing a skirt, knowing that doing so will only fuel her son’s desire. Later, as dusk sets, she lets her son in the home that is only for her and her husband. When Kambel returns, Yumar ensures there is no proof that their son ever slept with her. Since then, Gufa and his mother enjoy their close bond during Kambel’s absences. Thus, Kambel's insecurity causes his wife to get possessed by their son.

Australian

There is a folktale in the Normanby islands about a boy whose mother was deserted by her husband and brothers as they escaped from a human-devouring monster who was slaughtering countless people. After many years of adventure, the boy slays the monster and becomes a victorious hero. He takes his mother to the other side of the sea, and they have a close union (sexual implied).

In an Australian myth, a brother and his two older sisters roam the earth. The sisters are constantly being impregnated by their younger brother. They are the ancestors of the Aborigines.

Roman

In a Latin story, there is a married woman in Ephesus of such well-known virtue that women even from the neighboring places gaze at her. When her husband is buried, she weeps night and day over the body, which is buried in an underground vault. No one is able to divert her from torturing herself. Everyone mourns for her as a lady of great character, and she is now passed her fifth day of starvation. Every person thinks she is the one true example of a wife. Only a loyal maid sits by the widow and shed tears with her in sympathy. The widow's son, who is a soldier returning from the outskirts for being stationed to watch over some crucified robbers near his father's grave, hears of his father's demise and goes to the vault where he finds his mother, who he has always thought is beautiful, in a terrible state. She is overjoyed to see him, but when he brings supper for her into the tomb and tells his mother that this grief is useless and that he will love her from then on, she does not acknowledge his sympathy and weeps even more. Her son keeps urging his poor mother to eat with similar encouragements, until her maid, at last gives in. Refreshed with food and drink, she too starta to attack her mistress's stubbornness, and say that her dead husband will not want her to suffer like this. So the lady allows her stubbornness to fall, and fills herself with food. The son uses the same suggestive words, which has convinced his mother to live, to make her see that he is desirable and dominant just like her late husband, his father. In her pure eyes, she sees a pleasing hero she can not stop from yielding to and so he wins her over wholly. No one will have ever thought that this most chaste lady that was resolved to breathe her last over her husband's body has spent not only a wedding night on her son's bed, but a second and a third. The son delights in his mother's beauty, and she in his alikeness to his late father in both youth and handsomeness. During their shared pleasure, the brother of one of the robbers, noticing that there is no watch guard, takes his body down in the night. The next day, seeing one of the crosses without its corpse, the son is in fear of punishment, and tells his mother what happened. He tells her that this must be because he wronged his father by taking his own mother as his wife, but will make right by punishing himself with his sword. His mother's pure heart is now tender for her son the way a wife's heart would and she replies, "No, I would rather make my dead love useful, than lose my living love." She orders her first husband's body to be removed from the coffin and put up in place of the missing robber.

Finnish

In a Finnish epic, Kullervo's family is split apart with him being traded off as a slave, but he escapes and reunites with his mother. She wants to have grandkids so she urges her son to go out and quickly find a bride. He soon meets a beautiful woman at a court and he falls in love. Despite her many admirers, his love is requitted. A few years later, when Kullervo's mother comes to meet her grandchildren and her daughter-in-law for the first time, she is shocked to find that her son's bride is her own daughter, her son's older sister. In the end, she stays quiet and her two children continue being wedded in happy ignorance.

French

In an old French romance, a young man goes stay in a chateau where the ladies in charge turn out to be his grandmother, mother, and sister; his mother unaware he's her own son, introduces her daughter to him with the aspiration that the alluring newcomer will marry her daughter (his older sister). Soon an incestuous liaison ensues.

Hungarian

In a Hungarian tale, a king wants his sons to wed his daughters but the youngest son and an older daughter rebel. They flee, only to later sleep together under a tree and then marry. The children's rejection of the incestuous marriage, which they ultimately consummate, is the main focus.

Other

In Alchemy, there are numerous incest symbols, especially the hierosgamos or coniunctio (literally meaning "sacred marriage" or "union"), a chemical marriage between a male and female, specifically a brother and sister. The rebus is commonly shown as an incestuous younger brother and his older sister, depicted as a joining of Sol and Luna, sun and moon.

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. In addition, stories of tale type ATU 706, "The Maiden Without Hands", also show the motif of attempted fatherly incest connected with the mutilation of the heroine.

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.

In tales, the following motifs have appeared:

• A112.1. †A112.1. Deity from incestuous union.
• A164.1. †A164.1. Coupling of brother-sister deities.
• A164.1.1. †A164.1.1. Coupling of mother-son deities.
• A751.5.2.1. †A751.5.2.1. Moon wants to marry his sister the sun.
• A1006.2. †A1006.2. New race from incest after world calamity.
• A1273.1. †A1273.1. Incestuous first parents.
• A1552.3. †A1552.3. Brother-sister marriage of children of first parents.
• C114. †C114. Tabu: incest.
• C162.5. †C162.5. Tabu: brother-sister marriage.
• D45.4. †D45.4. Girl exchanges form with sorceress in order to visit her brother and get a son by him.
• D1741.6. †D1741.6. Loss of magic power through incest.
• H310.2. †H310.2. Brother unwittingly qualifies as bridegroom of sister in test.
• H367. †H367. Sister unwittingly qualifies as bride of brother in test.
• K1377. †K1377. Incestuous marriage arranged by trick.
• M344. †M344. Mother-incest foretelling/prediction.
• N365. †N365. Incest unwittingly committed.
• N365.1. †N365.1. Boy unwittingly commits incest with his mother.
• N365.1.1. †N365.1.1. Man unwittingly falls in love with his own mother.
• N365.3. †N365.3. Unwitting brother-sister incest.
• N365.3.1. †N365.3.1. Brother and sister unwittingly in love with each other.
• N365.3.4. †N365.3.4. Man meets a girl of unknown genealogy and marries her; she proves to be his sister.
• N681.3.1. †N681.3.1. Man consummates marriage with own mother.
• N681.3.2. †N681.3.2. Man learns that the girl he is in love with is his sister.
• N734.1. †N734.1. Slaves ordered married discover they are brother and sister.
• P3. †P3. Issue of marriage of brother and sister of highest chiefly rank is special.
• T412.2. †T412.2. Incognito son tests mother to see nature of women.
• T412.3. †T412.3. Mother commits incest with son whose honor she is testing.
• T412.4. †T412.4. Boy courts his mother, competes with father.
• T415.5. †T415.5. Brother-sister marriage.
• T471.1. †T471.1. Man unwittingly ravishes his own sister.

See also

• Incest in the Bible
• Incest in popular culture