Despite the success of Kondo’s show, some aspects of it have come under scrutiny. Critics have homed in on its dramatization of ageless gender stereotypes and divisions of labor: The men can be imperious, the women submissive; the garage is often the domain of the husband, the kitchen the responsibility of the wife.

At the end of the tidying process, Ischomachus reminds his wife that going forward, it will be her duty to maintain order. He assures Socrates that his wife did not resist but reacted “joyfully, like someone who’s found a path out of a difficult spot.” (“Spark Joy” is the title of Kondo’s second book.) Socrates is impressed. “My goodness!” he exclaims. “What a masculine intelligence you’ve described in your wife!” Yet his wife’s “masculine intelligence” is really the ultimate proof of her feminine submission.

In Ischomachus’s household, it’s not just each object that has a proper place and becomes more vibrant when it is kept there — the wife does, too. Both Ischomachus and Kondo believe that to be in control of your life, you must be in control of your house. But control is limited for women in Ischomachus’s world, and little has changed in that regard.

The comparison also prompts us to consider the notion of control itself. What does it say about the desires of neat freaks? The KonMari method puts forward a tempting bargain: If you organize your possessions, the rest of your life will magically fall into place. Xenophon’s characters seek even bolder rewards in “Oeconomicus,” which is often considered an allegorical blueprint for military success and good statesmanship. A city needs guardians in the same way that a household needs an overseer (i.e., a wife). Order among armies and on warships makes for a sight that is “fearsome to enemies and splendid to friends.” While Kondo focuses on individual desires and Xenophon on the well-being of society, they both think of tidying up as a way for a person to become someone greater and more powerful than their current self.

Could there be something a little sinister to the lovable guru and her life-changing magic? Kondo skeptics may be interested in the “ironic” readings of Xenophon’s dialogue. These often see the domestic failure that Ischomachus puts right by “educating” his wife as a mark not of her incompetence but of his. In other words, the fantasy of perfect control that household organization offers may appeal most to those of us who feel that we need to have control over every aspect of our lives, even those that resist simple storage solutions. Perhaps the biggest mess is not in our closets but in our minds.

Yung In Chae is a writer and editor at large of Eidolon, an online classics journal. Johanna Hanink is an associate professor of classics at Brown University. Her translation of speeches from Thucydides, “How to Think About War: An Ancient Guide to Foreign Policy,” will be published next month.

Join Peter Catapano, the editor of The Stone, at the Brooklyn Public Library’s Night of Philosophy and Ideas for a workshop on the editing process and readings by the winners of Library’s philosophical op-ed contest. To enter the contest, submit an Op-Ed of 750 words or less by Jan. 30 to jwhitney@bklynlibrary.org. Winners will be notified by email by Feb. 1.