History and mythology is laden with incestuous tales. For the royalty of Egypt, incest was a way of life. Father –daughter, mother –son and brother –sister unions were the order of the day. The Ptolemies, from whom the iconic beauty Cleopatra sprang forth, were classic examples.
The story of Oedipus is another famous fable, of a man who murdered his father and mated with his mother, only to wind his way down to destruction.
Forensic psychiatric investigations seem to give the best available picture of the social structure, criminality and dynamics of incest occurring in the "nuclear" family, i.e. in father-daughter and brother-sister relations. Two such series of consecutive cases of Swedish citizens, covering the periods 1934–1955 and 1965–1974, have been studied. Some of the results are briefly given. The male partners in these series have been followed up to 1970 and 1975 respectively. Despite an original average bad social standard in these families, it is important to warn against the oversimplification of regarding social factors in general as the cause of breaking through the incest barrier. The change in Swedish society regarding sanctions against and treatment of these cases over a period covering the last 40 years is described.
The risk of recessive disorders in incest offspring of first degree is four times as high as in first cousin offspring. The forensic series from 1934–1955, reported in part II, had about 60 incest pregnancies. Half of these ended fatally, including two infanticides. The tremendous social pressure on these pregnant women is evident. The result of all unsuccessful trials for illegal abortion may be imagined. Series of incest children are not suitable for studying the genetic effect of inbreeding.
There has been a strong universal barrier against incest in the nuclear family throughout the history of mankind, even in so called primitive societies without knowledge of the connection between coitus and pregnancy. Penalties do not seem to be the cause, as the taboo exists even in societies without any official penalties. The cause seems to be of deep psychological nature, best understood from a psychoanalytical point of view. Some recent investigations support this hypothesis.
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119623001/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
Incest is a major element of the Sophocles play Oedipus the King, based on the story from Greek mythology, in which the title character unknowingly kills his father and marries his mother. This act came to great prominence in the 20th century with Freud's analysis of the Oedipus complex as lying beneath the psychology of all men. Its female counterpart is called the Electra complex.
In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the King of Denmark, Claudius, marries his brother's widow Gertrude, which implies their sexual relationships. There has also been questioning to the relationship of Laertes and his sister, Ophelia.
Incest is a central theme in Mario Puzo's the Family.
Incest appears in many of William Faulkner's works, either enacted or imagined. Examples include Go Down, Moses, The Sound and the Fury, and Sanctuary.
Adult/child incest in non-fiction
Strong at the Heart: How it feels to heal from sexual abuse, by Carolyn Lehman, includes a number of true stories of incest. For example, one story concerns Tino, who is only five when he is abused by his grandmother. Another tells of Tammy and her younger sister who are abused by their stepfather over a number of years. They tell each other what's been going on when they are aged 15 and 14. A third is the story of Akaya, who is abused by her father from age two to seven, then again from the age of 12. Casanova tries to seduce his own 10-year-old daughter in Casanova's Women: The Great Seducer and the Women He Loved by Judith Summers. Where There Is Evil by Sandra Brown tells the story of the disappearance of 12-year-old Moira Anderson in 1957 and the involvement of Alex Gartshore, the author's father and a convicted child molester, as a member of a pedophile ring.
Daddy, written and directed by Niki de Saint Phalle, tells the story of Saint Phalle's history of sexual abuse at the hands of her father. Don't Tell Mummy: A True Story of the Ultimate Betrayal tells the story of Toni Maguire who was abused by her father from the age of six to 14, when he gets her pregnant. Please, Daddy, No: A Boy Betrayed by Stuart Howarth describes his abuse at the hands of his father and the despair that drove him to kill him years later. In A Girl Called Karen: A True Story of Sex Abuse and Resilience by Karen McConnell, Eileen Brand is abused by both her father and stepfather.
In Daddy: An Erotic Memoir, author Raul Schmidt (pseudonym) chronicles his consensual sexual relationships with both of his adult daughters.
In The Kiss, by Kathryn Harrison, the author gives her account of the consensual sexual relationship she had with her father as a young adult.