[Glenn Wright]

I suppose that ancient Greek men were much more anxious about hurting the feelings of their mistresses than their wives. I always got a kick out of Ξανθίππη, who supposedly dumped a pot of urine on the head of Σωκράτης, her husband. Athenian wives were sequestered and their interactions with their husbands were practical and usually pretty unromantic, with notable exceptions in literature. I think the marriage of Ζεύς and ´Ηρα provided a pretty standard picture of the kind of marriage a self-confident, assertive woman could expect. Poor things spent every daylight hour either spinning, weaving, or caring for children. They had no time for love poetry or romance. Their husbands seemed to want to spend as little time with them as possible—even Οδυσσέας and Πηνελοπη.