Necrophilia

Necrophilia, a sexual attraction to corpses, is a rare disorder that has been known since ancient times. According to Herodotus,' the ancient Egyptians took precautions against necrophilia by prohibiting the corpses of the wives of men of rank from being delivered immediately to the embalmers, for fear that the embalmers would violate them. According to a legend, King Herod had sex with his wife Marianne for seven years after he killed her.3.4 Similar legends exist about King Waldemar and Charle-mag~e.'.~ Necrophilia was considered by the Catholic Church to be neither whoring ("fornicatio") nor bestiality, but "pollution with a tendency to ~horing."~ In more recent times, necrophilia has been associated with cannibalism and myths of vampirism. The vampire, who has been romanticized by the Dracula tales, obtains a feeling of power from his victims, "like I had taken something powerful from them."' Cannibalistic tribal rituals are based on the notion that consumption of human flesh imparts a special power or