Xanthippe

• the wife of Socrates, Cic. Tusc. 3, 15, 31; Gell. 1, 17, 1.

mythological. [Pleuron.]

(Ξανθίππη), wife of Socrates. [Socrates.]

(Ξανθίππη). The wife of the Athenian philosopher Socrates. Many anecdotes have come down in the pages of ancient writers regarding this famous woman, whose name has become proverbial in all languages as that of a typical shrew. It is likely, however, that many of these are apocryphal, and that, on the other hand, there was much in the unpractical ways of Socrates to provoke even a good-tempered woman who loved order and a reasonable degree of conventionality. It is fair to remember, also, that Socrates himself, in a conversation with his son Lamprocles (Xen. Mem. ii. 2), ascribes to Xanthippé numerous domestic virtues; while it is recorded that she showed great affection and solicitude for her husband during his imprisonment. See Socrates.

• wife of Pleuron: Apollod. 1.7.5