Page:Next-of-kin Marriages in Old Iran.djvu/27

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NEXT-OF-KIN MARRIAGES.

Mr. Wm. Adam points out that Xenophon's memoirs of Socrates refer to the intercourse of parents with children among the Greeks (vide his dissertation on "Consanguinity in Marriage," contributed to the Fortnightly Review, vol. II., p. 719).

These are some of the facts which plainly indicate that the custom of consanguineous marriages did actually exist in ancient Greece at a very remote period. These facts are preserved in its native archives, which it is difficult to controvert. But, hence, it is allowable to infer that the Greek historians of old Irân were not unfamiliar with next-of-kin marriages, before they wrote a word upon any Oriental history or religion, and that their sweeping assertion of the incestuous practices of the civilized Arians was to a certain extent due to their knowledge of the existence of such practices amongst Semitic nations[1] as well as amongst themselves.

  1. ↑ In some of the sacred documents of the Jews, particularly in the books of Genesis and Exodus, it is recorded that Abraham was married to his half-sister Sarai, Nahor to his niece Milcah, Amram to his aunt Jochebed, and Lot to his
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