Xanthippe- Got a Bad Rap

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author

 SpeakMind048ed91d06b0d844473848717d55cb60Day 24: #AtoZChallenge

I won’t lie; the letter X mystified me. I didn’t have a clue what to write – until I came across the word Xanthippe. What in the world is that, you ask?

Webster defines Xanthippe as an ill-tempered woman. She was also the wife of Socrates (5th-century bc ). Her allegedly bad-tempered behavior toward her husband made her the proverbial shrew.

I don’t know about you, but I’d wager Socrates had it coming. Can you imagine living with a Greek Philosopher? I’d be ill-tempered too.

Yep, we women can thank Socrates for creating the Socratic Method– “A form of cooperative, argumentative dialogue between individuals…”  R-i-g-h-t. I can’t think of a better way to spend my evening than having a cooperative, argument with my husband (Not).

I can see it now. What woman wouldn’t want her husband throwing questions at her, like darts, on the pretense of stimulating critical thinking?

Not only did Socrates find his wife disagreeable, but he didn’t like her looks either, referring to her as “undesirable.” This from a man described by Plato ( one of his students) as “short and stocky, with a snub nose and bulging eyes, which always seemed to be staring.” I hate people who stare!

Seriously? Are you still wondering why Xanthippe had a bad temper? Not me.

My guess is she didn’t like Socrates debates, and he didn’t like her answers. Too bad. He’s lucky she didn’t kill him and write him into a parchment novel. Women sure do get a bad rap.

“By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher” Socrates. Tweet This.

Yeah, if you ask me, old Socrates had it coming.

I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood,  Pinterest,  Bloglovin, Twitter@sheilamgood, and Contently.

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20 thoughts on “Xanthippe- Got a Bad Rap”

  1. I agree – Socrates had it coming. Too bad his wife lived in a era she did, because I imagine she DID write a fun, nasty book about him, but no one kept it. But I enjoyed your speculations, Sheila.

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  4. Thanks for the laugh. Good old Socrates, a laugh a minute 🙂 Actually, I used the Socratic method in teaching, didn’t even know it. Just seemed like a good way to get an interesting class discussion going. Worked, too 🙂

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  8. Hi Sheila – how funny!!! I used Xanthippe last year and wrote a semi-autobiographical story about a xanthocomic xanthippe. Even the dictionary in my computer doesn’t recognize these words. I don’t think I could have lived with a philosopher, he would just totally irritate the snot of me and most likely never helped with the laundry, because he was so busy philosophizing.

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