Friend or Flatterer? A Wife as a Mirror in Plutarch’s ”Advice to the Bride and Groom” (14, 139f–140a)

Abstract

In chapter 14 of the “Advice to the Bride and Groom” Plutarch recommends a wife should behave like a mirror, faithfully reflecting her husband’s moods and attitudes. In this paper I compare this piece of advice with other mirror-similes which have been related to human beings (as lovers, friends, flatterers, and models to follow) in ancient Greek and Roman literature, especially in Plutarch’s works. I conclude that the ideal Plutarchan wife has been situated, perhaps unintentionally, „between” friend and flatterer, because the mirror-simile in the “Advice…” symbolizes not only the true unity of man and his wife, but also the strict hierarchy amongst them