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Xanthippe was the wife of Socrates. She was famed for her sharp
tongue and is said to have been the only person to ever have beaten Socrates in a discussion. After one particular quarrel, she
was supposed to have emptied a chamber pot on Socrates's head, causing him to remark, "After thunder there generally falls
rain."
Her name now means any nagging scolding person, especially a shrewish wife. According to some sources, Socrates later
remarried.
The following clerihew was written about her:
- Whenever Xanthippe
- Wasn't feeling too chippy
- She would say to Socrates:
- "Why can't you have been Hippocrates?"
-- Additionally, in Greek Mythology, Xanthippe/Xantippe is a
daughter of Dorus who bore Agenor to Pleuron son of Aetolus.
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