The question of family

King solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. In Polynesia before the missionaries set the natives right the it was common to find a woman having more than one husband or Polyandry. I some parts of Asia owing to the scarcity of land, brothers would marry only one girl so as not to split the land that they had. Islam allows four wives and easy divorce. The early Mormons allowed a man to have several wives which led them to clashes with the government. In some parts of China children belonged to the mother and were reared collectively by the family of the mother. Only women had rights to inherit property and the males in the family helped their matriarch and protected the family. They may have children but these would be living with the mothers.

In modern times, having more than one wife is usually illegal in most countries. Having mistresses may be frowned upon and make for salacious fare for the tabloids but are nevertheles common occurrences. The practice of living together or "shacking up" is not sneered at or vilified. In fact, it might be a practical solution to living in the city where the cost of living could be shared by two peopple who like each other.

There is a clear connection between having several wives and concubines and having wealth and power. In different parts of the world a King, Emperor or a Headman of a tribe can have more than one wife. It speaks of his power and prestige as well as his sexual prowess to have more than one wife. A poor man having a difficult time keeping body and soul together might have dreams of being rich and powerful and having more than one woman to take to bed whether she be a wife or girlfriend but reality soon dashes his wishful thinking to pieces when his stomach starts to rumble or when his wife nags him for food. Although it might be good for the king to have many wives hence many offspring it can pose problems for him later on when he becomes old and weak. His children might be tempted to kill him in order to inherit the throne. This has happened quite a few times in history.