Socrates' first disciples discuss alternatives to monogamic marriage

What is it about?

Women in common is an ancient ethnographic concept denoting a form of polyandry in which consent for sex with women is granted. Social groups that practice women in common also establish nonbiological kinship systems. This chapter argues that the circle of the first Socratics was interested in this practice as an alternative to standard marriage and to biological kinship as follows:

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Photo by Nikola Tasic on Unsplash

Photo by Nikola Tasic on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This chapter disputes the identification of "women in common" as an original idea of either Plato's Republic, Aristophanes' Ecclesiazusae or the Pythagorean tradition expressed in the motto “the things of friends are common”. It argues that Plato entertained the idea of abolishing marriage in favor of ritual sex for reproduction, combined with a communal kinship that would extend the family to the whole city. Xenophon mentions a Spartan tradition of sharing wives, but refrains from developing the issue, limiting it to the goal of increasing the procreation of citizens. Antisthenes criticizes standard marriage for the complications it imposes on sex and, while he endorses the idea of women in common, he criticizes it for taking women’s consent for granted: sexual activity must be consensual. Aristippus takes the courtesan as the model for having women in common and adds to it the novelty of an elective kinship system. Finally, by suggesting that Xanthippe was a woman held in common, Porphyry provides an argument for including Socrates in this debate.

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