Socrates's wife Xanthippe has entered the popular imagination as a shrewish character who dumps water on the inattentive Socrates. Such popular portrayals are intended largely to highlight what makes Socrates such an appealing character. But she also appears briefly in Plato's dialogue the Phaedo, the dialogue that takes place in Socrates's prison cell, recounts the conversation about death and immortality that took place there, and then reports the events surrounding Socrates's death after drinking the hemlock. After a review of the ancient anecdotes about Xanthippe and possible readings of those anecdotes, this article considers the significance of Xanthippe's presence early in the Phaedo for our understanding of the conversation between Socrates and his companions. In this way, Xanthippe moves from the role of the shrew to—if not exactly a muse—at least a question mark. That we even know her name may indicate a force of personality too readily scorned by those highlighting her shrewish nature.

中文翻译：

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Xanthippe：rew或缪斯

苏格拉底的妻子克桑皮（Xanthippe）进入了大众的想象，因为他是一个狡猾的角色，向不专心的苏格拉底倾倒了水。这种流行的写法主要是在强调什么使苏格拉底成为如此吸引人的角色。但是她还短暂出现在柏拉图的对话中，即在苏格拉底监狱牢房中发生的对话Phaedo，叙述了在那里发生的关于死亡和永生的对话，然后报告了喝了铁杉的苏格拉底死后的事件。在回顾了有关Xanthippe的古代轶事以及对这些轶事的可能解读之后，本文认为Xanthippe早在斐多的存在对于我们理解苏格拉底与他的同伴之间的对话具有重要意义。通过这种方式，Xanthippe从担当角色变成了至少是一个问号（如果不是缪斯女神）。我们甚至知道她的名字可能表明个性的力量太容易受到那些强调她机灵的人的嘲笑。