A “Difficult” Woman: Restoring Philosophical Xanthippe

Abstract

Ancient sources label Xanthippe a “difficult” woman—shrewish, emotional, and hostile to philosophy. While some recent feminist scholars have reinterpreted these sources as being more sympathetic, most stop short of asking about her philosophical life and commitments, assuming that the evidence is simply too sparse to draw any conclusions. This paper argues against this assumption. It establishes that there is a lesser-known ancient tradition, possibly beginning in the works of the ancient Athenian Socratic acolytes and continuing into the fictitious epistolary of the Imperial Greek period, according to which Xanthippe is a philosophical participant, living by philosophical principles, and perhaps even conserving Socratic works after his death. This tradition also suggests that she may have held her own philosophical views which merit future consideration, as she is sometimes associated with topics like moral education, philosophical community, and material well-being.