-Dedicated to my powerful wife-
Image taken from here.
[Scene: a large, mostly-empty meeting hall with banners and bunting hanging from the balcony. A man steps up to the podium. The microphone gives a momentary squeak of feedback. The man clears his throat and begins to speak.]
Welcome, physically distanced members, honored guests, and those joining us via livestream, of a new organization which is sorely needed in our rapidly transforming 21st-century world: Husbands of Powerful Women United (#HOPWU).
Previously, it had been mostly women who were in supporting positions to powerful men. But now, with the election of Kamala Harris as the first female vice president of the United States, it is clear that going forward, more and more women will find themselves in positions of power.
Therefore, it is incumbent upon us men who are the husbands of these powerful women to unite and do our part to further the interests of a world where women with the gifts of leadership occupy the rightful places where those gifts can be most exercised.
Our role model and honorary chairman is Douglas Emhoff, the Second Gentleman. Although Mr. Emhoff knows nothing of our organization (yet) and may completely disavow any association with us, we must announce to him and to all worthy second gentlemen throughout the world that we follow respectfully in his and their footsteps.
Of course, in the tradition of many organizations of past renown, we shall have a Latin motto which embodies our great ethos. And this motto shall be DUX FEMINA FACTI, which, loosely translated, means, THIS TIME THE WOMAN GETS THE CREDIT.
We shall also be adopting a figure from Greek Mythology as our symbol and inspiration. As Greek Mythology is part of the foundation of our Great Western Civilization, such a symbol will bring us natural respect and…
[Someone steps up to the podium and whispers something to the speaker.]
What? Oh, is that right? Oh, how unfortunate. But there must be… After all…
Hmmmm.
[Speaker readjusts microphone. Another squeak.]
My colleague reminds me that in Greek Mythology there are not many particularly…er…. admirable husbands of powerful women, or goddesses for that matter. Anyway, none that come up to the standards of a Douglas Emhoff.
And yet.
For instance, we are very proud of the Olympian divinities such as Athena and Demeter who have exercised considerable power in their spheres of influence and have been used as symbols and inspirations for various organizations for hundreds of years and are… er… unmarried.
But then there is Aphrodite, who is married to the admirable Hephaestus, creative genius and master of metallurgy… who, ah, shall we say, does not appreciate his wife’s lack of loyalty to him with the god Ares, among, er, others.
Most unfortunate.
Artemis… powerful goddess of the hunt… unmarried.
Hestia… powerful goddess of the hearth… unmarried.
Hera… powerful goddess with disloyal powerful husband.
Persephone… queen of the underworld, married to Hades, god of death. Somewhat problematic.
Well, we can always bring in the wonderful goddess of the sea, Thetis, who was the illustrious mother of the illustrious hero Achilles, and who married a decidedly less powerful man known as Peleus who she… most of the time… er… ignored.
Looking, then, to the human realm, we find the most powerful Medea, who is a very strong figure indeed, who is married to Jason. Or who was married to Jason, until he left her for another woman and unleashed her fury against him.
Or Helen…hmmm… who had two husbands who fought over her.
But what about Penelope, who was pursued by 106 suitors and yet was loyal to her…more celebrated husband Odysseus?
Yes, indeed.
All right, if that doesn’t quite suit, we can recall our wonderful Latin motto and move on to Roman mythology, where we find Dido, Queen of Carthage, who marries the great founder of the Roman race, Aeneas.
Aeneas, as we see in the fourth book of the great Vergil’s epic poem the Aeneid, is content to live in Carthage as the Second Gentleman to his powerful wife and leader of the great city in North Africa which…
[whispers from below the podium]
Ah, yes. I regret to say, Aeneas had to leave Dido in order to become the founder of the Roman race in Italy, and she ended up by… ending her own life.
Well, based on our admittedly shallow review of the most popular Greek and Roman stories, it seems as if the ancient Mediterranean world is not replete with shining examples of supportive husbands and their powerful wives.
[An awkward silence. Then a lone hand goes up in the back of the room. The speaker leans forward, shields his eyes from the spotlight with a palm, and squints into the distance.]
What’s that? Who? Oh, yes. That’s right. Thank you.
We may have a solution. And a good one at that.
Consider Queen Arete, the leader of the Phaeacians, the tribe inhabiting the island of Scheria. The hero Odysseus encounters these worthy people in Book 6 of the Odyssey, where our hero is washed up, naked and exhausted, a victim of Poseidon’s wrath.
Princess Nausicaa, who is washing clothes with her friends at the mouth of a river, rescues Odysseus and advises him to apply to her mother, Arete, if he wants to be sent back to his home of Ithaca:
Go through the courtyard, in the house and on
straight to the Great Hall. You will find my mother
sitting beside the hearth by firelight,
and spinning her amazing purple wool.
She leans against a pillar, slaves behind her.
My father has a throne right next to hers;
he sits and sips his wine, just like a god.
But pass him by, embrace my mother’s knees
to supplicate. If you do this, you quickly
will reach your home, however far it is,
in happiness. If she is good to you,
and looks upon you kindly in her heart,
you can be sure of getting to your house,
back to your family and native land.
(all translations by the awesome Emily Wilson)
Pass by the king, says Nausicaa, for it is Queen Arete who is the real mover and shaker in the realm of Scheria. If she likes you, then you will prosper.
Makes sense, since the word arete (ah-reh-teh) means, in Greek, heroic excellence.
Of course, King Alcinous has his place. He is king, after all. He has his throne. He gets to sip wine like a god, which is something to which many of #HOPWU’s membership aspire. He sits near his beloved wife, and has his part to play.
But Arete is the one to ask Odysseus his story and order his bed to be prepared once the night’s feasting is over.
And after his stay, when Odysseus indeed is granted the favor of being taken home in a ship of the Phaeacians, who does he speak to last? Arete.
Bless you forever, queen, until old age
and death arrive for you, as for us all;
I will leave now. Be happy in your home
and children, and your people, and your king.
Now there may be a lesson in this for all of us. Professor Wilson’s translation reminds us by her heading on Book 7, “A Magical Kingdom,” that Scheria and the Phaeacians are not typical Greeks. They are literally isolated, far from Greece and all other neighbors. There is more than in Greece a sense of equality or equal merit in the genders, as Homer reminds us:
Just as Phaeacian men have special talent
for launching ships to sea, the women there
are expert weavers, since Athena gave them
fine minds and skill to make most lovely things.
And there is a sense in which the Phaeacians are somewhat naive because of their isolation. Once they take Odysseus home, Poseidon becomes angry at them for helping a person whom the god hates. With the permission of Zeus, he turns the ship to stone that carried Odysseus back to his home, the island of Ithaca, and then he further isolates the island with a huge mountain that rings it all the way around.
Is it a signal that a more inclusive and equitable nation should be forever cut off from the mainstream of patriarchal Greek society?
Be that as it may: here is the lesson: we should aspire to be like the Phaeacians, naive as they might be, for in this way we move towards our goal as the Husbands of Powerful Women United (#HOPWU) to give everyone the chance, regardless of their circumstances in life, to live up to their dreams and highest potential.
Arete is our symbol and inspiration, and heroic excellence our goal!
This is, after all, the American way.
[Sparse clapping as the scene fades to black.]