Xanthippe, Horse, Wife and Space Colony

April 22, 2009 in Codex, Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo
Tags: Horse, Mai Waifu, Nervalists, Otto van Veen, Reyer van Blommendael, Socrates, Space colony, Wife, Xanthippe, Xantippe Dousing Socrates

Xantippe Dousing Socrates by Reyer van Blommendael ~ 1655

My Horse, Mai Waifu

It is the example of the rider who wishes to become an expert horseman: “None of your soft-mouthed, docile animals for me,” he says; “the horse for me to own must show some spirit” in the belief, no doubt, if he can manage such an animal, it will be easy enough to deal with every other horse besides. And that is just my case. I wish to deal with human beings, to associate with man in general; hence my choice of wife. I know full well, if I can tolerate her spirit, I can with ease attach myself to every human being else.
Socrates

Xanthippe

Xanthippe (Ξανθίππη) was the wife of Socrates and mother of their three sons Lamprocles, Sophroniscus, and Menexenus. She was likely much younger than the philosopher, perhaps by as much as forty years. Xanthippe means “blond horse”, from the Greek ξανθός “xanthos” (blond) and ‘ιππος “hippos” (horse). The “hippos” in an ancient Greek name often suggested aristocratic heritage.

Xanthippe Bad Temper

Xanthippe is said to have had a bad temper and to have been the very personification of the constantly nagging wife. Her contemporaries did not picture her as such a terrible person as the later Romans did. According to later stories, Socrates knew he was marrying a hag, but did so to practice his patience. A well known anecdote about the angry Xanthippe is the one where she was so angry with her husband that she threw a bucket of washing water on him. The philosopher then replied: after thunder comes rain. Socrates’ saying “Marry or marry not, in any case you’ll regret it” was supposedly in contemplation of his wife.

Colony Brain Xanthippe