XANTIPPA. Xantippe, the second wife of Socrates, developed the reputation of a shrew during the Middle Ages and appears as a scolding wife in the antifeminist literature of the period. Jerome mentions her in this context, Epistola adversus Jovinianum (Letter Against Jovinian) I.48 (PL 23: 278-279). Christine de Pizan, however, presents Xantippa and Socrates in a loving marriage in The Book of the City of Ladies (1405) II.21.l.

Jankyn reads to Dame Alys how Xantippa "caste pisse upon his head," WBP 727-732. Jerome says it was water. [Socrates]

The name, a pronunciation variant, occurs in medial position, WBP 729.