Am I my brother's sister's wife's keeper...or something like that

I noticed an article in the sports pages of the Sydney Morning Herald, that mentioned among other things a current scandal in British football. That I noticed anything at all is a complete fluke since I never read the sports pages, but in a moment you'll see what it was that caught my eye.

It seems that a footballer by the name of Ryan Giggs has been discovered having an affair with his brother's wife. I'll leave the sordid details to others, because I have no idea. However this led to a question raised in the local paper, whether it was worse for a man to have an affair with his brother's wife, or with his wife's sister. You can always rely on Australian journalists to zero in on the Big Questions.

And here is the response from one reader, a gentleman by the name of Bruce Hyland. I'm copying this directly from the article, and I must say his response makes me proud to be a fellow Australian.

"The Greeks," he writes, "held that an offence against a blood relative was far more serious than an offence against a relative who was not blood-kin. Hence, Clytemnestra's murder of her husband, Agamemnon, was less heinous than Orestes' revenge killing of Clytemnestra, because Clytemnestra and Agamemnon were not blood relatives, whereas Orestes was Clytemnestra's [and Agamemnon's] son and, thus, the closest blood-kin. It follows that sleeping with one's brother's wife is beyond the pale, whereas sleeping with one's wife's sister may be regarded as a trivial peccadillo."

Geez, and people think Australian sports fans are ignorant buffoons. Mr Hyland, I salute you, sir.