Usually women ran after great man :p

I believe this saying refers to the fact that as a man rises to greatness his family is often the first to suffer. Therefore it takes a great women to stay faithful out of the limelight and keep the family together. Many times you will see a great leaders family is full of problems and wonder how this great leader could not lead his family. When he lost focus of his family with his role as a leader, his wife was stressed and the family fell apart.

i think the typical implication is that in the delevlopment of a great man there must be a great mother (since traditionally that was their role: to raise) or female figure. the way men inspire and guide other men starkly differs from the role of a wife or mother in a mans life. Well, at least that was the generalization. nowadays, gender roles have become less polarized (less different), so who knows!

It's old fashioned. It comes from the days when women were never in the public eye. If a man achieved greatness there was usually a woman somewhere helping him.

maybe His mom helped him then his wife get advantage of that hard times his mom go through for him .