How did the greeks view incest?

Question

Im doing a project on oedipus where i have to prove how oedipus is guilty of incest and i cant find anything to procecute him on. Can someone give me some ideas?

? · Accepted Answer

Greeks believed that incest should be kept in the family.

To prove a crime there first has to be intent to commit that crime, except in cases of strict liability where a defendant/perpetrator is assumed to be automatically guilty - in the modern era that would be things like speeding in restricted areas. Secondly there needs to be some kind of statute or law that states what the crime is - so someone can be charged and found guilty under that crime. Did Ancient Greece have a statute of some kind prohibiting incest? Then you have to prove that Oedipus was aware that he was committing that crime. He need not know that he was aware that marrying his mother or committing incest was a crime, just aware that she was his mother.

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How did the greeks view incest?