370. These details reveal the nature of the jealous fire, into which the conjugial love of polygamists bursts forth, as being anger and revenge; anger in the case of the civilised, revenge in the case of the uncivilised. This happens because their love is natural with no share in the spiritual. This follows from what was proved in the chapter on polygamy; namely, that polygamy is wantonness (345) and the polygamist, so long as he remains a polygamist, is natural and cannot become spiritual (347).
The fire of jealousy among the natural monogamists is, however, different. Their love is not aroused so much against women as against violators. They are the object of anger, the women the object of coldness. It is different with polygamists, whose fire of jealousy also blazes with the stimulus of revenge. This too is one of the reasons why after death most of the mistresses and wives of polygamists are set free, and sent to unguarded women's quarters to engage in the various handicrafts proper to women.
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