Great is the glory of the woman who occasions the least talk among men, whether of praise or of blame.

The sentiment is associated with classical Athenian ideals of female seclusion and “quietness” in public life during the late 5th century BCE, the world Thucydides describes in his history of the Peloponnesian War. In that culture, elite women were expected to avoid public visibility and political speech; a woman’s reputation was thought best protected by remaining outside male civic discourse. The line is often attributed to Thucydides in modern quotation collections, but it more specifically echoes a famous remark placed in the mouth of Pericles in the Funeral Oration, where he briefly addresses widows and women’s conduct as part of a public speech about civic virtue.

The quote praises a woman whose name and actions provoke “the least talk” among men—whether admiration or criticism—treating invisibility as a form of honor. It reflects a gendered moral code in which public attention itself is suspect for women, implying that even praise can be damaging because it draws a woman into the arena of male judgment and gossip. Read historically, it illuminates how Athenian civic ideology defined virtue differently by gender: men gain glory through public deeds and speech, while women are urged toward privacy and silence. In modern readings, it is often cited as evidence of the restrictive norms governing women’s agency and reputation in classical Athens.

1) "Great will be her glory who is least talked of among men, whether in praise or blame." 2) "The greatest glory of a woman is to be least spoken of by men, whether for good or for ill." 3) "A woman's greatest glory is not to be talked about among men, either for praise or for blame."