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[Grakelin]

Except that only a witch could have made him a violetn schizophrenic, which only leaves members of his own male bloodline - Claudius. Come on, it's super obvious Claudius orchestrated the whole thing.

[Neonivek]

Except that only a witch could have made him a violetn schizophrenic, which only leaves members of his own male bloodline - Claudius. Come on, it's super obvious Claudius orchestrated the whole thing.

Actually if someone told me that someone secretly planned the whole thing

My vote would be Horatio

[Grakelin]

That would explain why he was acting like such a dope at the beginning of the story, yeah, but Horatio and Hamlet aren't related by blood.

[DJ]

You know, this only proves that Shakespeare is not universal rather than there are no universal concepts. I bet their interpretation of Oedipus Rex would be very similar to ours.

[Grakelin]

Oedipus Rex is just as embroiled in Western culture as Hamlet.

[DJ]

Nah, patricide and incest are universal.

[Askot Bokbondeler]

...incest

nope

[Sir Pseudonymous]

...incest

nope

With the exception of certain aristocracies that inbred as a result of "not wanting to pollute their bloodline", yes. There's an instinctual revulsion to thinking of those who were close to you when you were sufficiently young sexually. Naturally it doesn't hold up in every unique case, but it is universal to the extent that deviation from it is considered aberrant in every society (with the exception of such cases as considering a specific line to have divine or otherwise superior blood in it, which can't be mixed with those seen as "lesser").

[Cecilff2]

I'd love to see what they'd think about Macbeth.
WITCHES EVERYWHERE!

[Askot Bokbondeler]

first, if there are exceptions, it's not universal, no exception.

second, incest itself is defined differently in different cultures, the concept itself isn't *universal*, as isn't the taboo

[DJ]

It doesn't have to apply to everyone to be a taboo. Kinda like how murder is taboo in our society, but it doesn't apply to the state (ie death penalty is not taboo).

Incest is probably a more widespread taboo than cannibalism.

[GlyphGryph]

Which is also, I assure you, a concept that is not universally taboo.

[Sir Pseudonymous]

first, if there are exceptions, it's not universal, no exception.

It is universally present, but there are the rare exceptions to it, which don't permeate a culture as a whole, but rather apply to specific, extenuating circumstances, such as the aforementioned "divinity" or "purity" of an aristocratic line. (Such as Egyptian royalty: they were believed to be the offspring of the gods, and so them breeding with any outside their own line was considered unthinkable.)

second, incest itself is defined differently in different cultures, the concept itself isn't *universal*, as isn't the taboo

There are varying degrees of it, yes, but parent/offspring/sibling incest is universally taboo, the other degrees simply add more onto that.

[Muz]

Incest is probably a more widespread taboo than cannibalism.

Both are really bad for health. I think every society learns that they're bad just as they learn to develop medicine.

[Earthquake Damage]

Both are really bad for health. I think every society learns that they're bad just as they learn to develop medicine.

But not every society has the luxury of a large breeding population.  Hence some cultures permit first cousins to marry while others permit cross cousin marriage or ban it outright.