| Damocles Δαμοκλῆς | |
|---|---|
 InRichard Westall'sSword of Damocles, 1812, the boys ofCicero's anecdote have been changed to maidens for aneoclassical patron,Thomas Hope. | |
| In-universe information | |
| Occupation | Courtier |
TheSword of Damocles is an ancient Greek moralanecdote,[1][2] an allusion to the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions ofpower. Its main character,Damocles[a], was based on acourtier in the court ofDionysius I of Syracuse,[3] a ruler ofSyracuse, Sicily,Magna Graecia, during theclassical Greek era.
The anecdote apparently figured in the lost history ofSicily byTimaeus of Tauromenium (c. 356 – c. 260 BC). The Roman oratorCicero (c. 106 – c. 43 BC),[4] who may have read it in the texts of Greek historianDiodorus Siculus, used it in hisTusculanae Disputationes, 5. 61,[1] by which means it passed into the European cultural mainstream.
According to the story, Damocles was flattering his king, Dionysius, exclaiming that Dionysius was truly fortunate as a great man of power and authority without peer, surrounded by magnificence. In response, Dionysius offered to switch places with Damocles for one day so that Damocles could taste that fortune firsthand. Damocles eagerly accepted the king's proposal. Damocles sat on the king's throne amid embroidered rugs, fragrant perfumes, and the service of beautiful attendants. But Dionysius, who had made many enemies during his reign, arranged that a sword should hang above the throne, held at thepommel only by a singlehair of a horse's tail to evoke the sense of what it is like to be king: though having much fortune, always having to watch in anxiety against dangers that might try to overtake him, whether it is a jealous advisor or servant, a slanderous rumor, an enemy kingdom, a poor royal decision, or anything else. Damocles finally begged the king for permission to depart because he no longer wanted to be so fortunate, realizing that while he had everything he could ever want at his feet, it could not affect what was above his crown.
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Cicero used this story as the last in a series of contrasting examples for concluding his fifthDisputation, in which the theme is that having virtue is sufficient for living a happy life.[6][7]
Cicero's meaning in the story of the Sword of Damocles has alternative interpretations. Cicero states, "Doesn't Dionysius seem to have made it plenty clear that nothing is happy for him over whom terror always looms?" arguing that those in positions of power can never rest and truly enjoy that power.[8] Some take this and argue further, stating that the point was that death looms over all, but that it is vital to strive to be happy and enjoy life in spite of that terror.[9] Others take the meaning to be something akin to "don't judge someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes," as it is impossible to know what someone is struggling with, even if their life seems to be perfect to the outside observer. Just as King Dionysius's life looked luxurious and flawless on the outside to Damocles, so too might the lives of others that one covets for oneself.[9] One other interpretation sees the story of the sword of Damocles as explicitly meant forJulius Caesar, implicitly suggesting that he should take care not to act the same way that King Dionysius did, making enemies and denying spiritual life, falling prey to the pitfalls of thetyrant, and mind the sword hanging ever-present over his neck.[10]
The sword of Damocles is frequently used inallusion to this tale, epitomizing the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power. More generally, it is used to denote the sense of foreboding engendered by a precarious situation,[11] especially one in which the onset of tragedy is restrained only by a delicate trigger or chance. William Shakespeare'sHenry IV expands on this theme: "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown";[12] compare theHellenistic andRoman imagery connected with the insecurity offered byTyche andFortuna.
InThe Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer refers to the sword of Damocles, which the Knight describes as hanging over Conquest. When the Knight describes the three temples, he also pays special attention to the paintings, noticing one on the walls of the temple ofMars:
And al above, depeinted in a tour,
Saugh I Conquest, sitting in greet honour,
With the sharpe swerd over his heed,
Hanginge by a subtil twines threed.
Above, where seated in his tower,
I saw Conquest depicted in his power
There was a sharpened sword above his head
That hung there by the thinnest simple thread.
The Roman 1st-century BC poetHorace also alluded to the sword of Damocles in Ode 1 of theThird Book of Odes, in which he extolled the virtues of living a simple, rustic life, favoring such an existence over the myriad threats and anxieties that accompany holding a position of power. In this appeal to his friend and patron, the aristocraticGaius Maecenas, Horace describes theSiculae dapes or "Sicilian feasts" as providing no savory pleasure to the man, "above whose impious head hangs a drawn sword (destrictus ensis)."[15]
The phrase has also come to be used in describing any situation infused with a sense of impending doom, especially when the peril is visible and proximal—regardless of whether the victim is in a position of power. United States PresidentJohn F. Kennedy compared the omnipresent threat ofnuclear annihilation to a sword of Damocles hanging over the people of the world.[16] Soviet First SecretaryNikita Khrushchev wanted theTsar Bomba to "hang like the sword of Damocles over the imperialists' heads".[17]
Woodcut images of the sword of Damocles as an emblem appear in 16th- and 17th-century European books of devices, with moralizing couplets or quatrains, with the importMETUS EST PLENUS TYRANNIS.[18] A small vignette shows Damocles under a canopy of state, at the festive table, with Dionysius seated nearby;[19] the etching, with its clear political moral, was later used to illustrate the idea.[20][21]
References to the sword of Damocles can also be found in cartoonist illustrations, such as inJoseph Keppler's magazinePuck,[22] a satiric periodical started in the late 1800s in the United States, and the sword can be used as a device to call attention to the peril that current events or contentious issues of the time place the world in.
The sword of Damocles frequently appears in popular culture, including novels, feature films, television series, video games, and music.[23] Some notable examples includeDamocles, a 16-bit videogame from 1990 in which the player races to prevent the titular comet Damocles from destroying a planet,[24] the song "The Sword of Damocles" fromThe Rocky Horror Picture Show,[25] and a virtual reality headset also calledThe Sword of Damocles, developed by Ivan Sutherland in 1968, named for its suspension from the ceiling of the lab in which it was developed and its foreboding appearance.[23]
InMade in Canada, a Canadian television series that ran from 1998 to 2003,Sword of Damacles was the name of an in-series television show produced by Pyramid, the production company the show centres around.
TheDamocles is the name of the ship that is used in amulti-episode plot-line that spanned multiple seasons of the television showNCIS.
The Japanese anime series, K (also referred to asK-Project) utilizes the theme of the sword of Damocles as an integral part of the plot for its main characters.
The CW showThe 100 presents its two-part finale of season 5, titled "Damocles." In this finale, GeneralDiyoza confrontsOctavia with the words, "Do you know what your mistake was? Your mistake was enjoying it... Power... it’s the kiss of death."[citation needed]
The Finnish bandHIM released a song calledShatter Me With Hope on their 2010 albumScreamworks: Love in Theory and Practice that features a reference to the sword of Damocles in the lyrics.
The American bandTrivium released a song called "Like a Sword Over Damocles" on their 2021 albumIn the Court of the Dragon.
The British bandSleep Token released a song called "Damocles" on their 2025 albumEven in Arcadia.
The sword of Damocles is an oft-used symbol in modernhip hop, an allusion used to impart the threat "kingly"rappers face of being deposed as the best of the best. It is referenced in the lyrics of the song "Zealots" byThe Fugees in 1996.[8] It also appears in the music ofKanye West, both in the music video for his single "Power" in 2010, where a sword is positioned above West's head as he stands amidst rows ofIonic columns, and in later cover art for the song, which features the impaled head of a black man wearing a crown.[8]
Evil foreboded or dreaded
{{cite book}}:|website= ignored (help)Today, every inhabitant of this planet must contemplate the day when this planet may no longer be habitable. Every man, woman, and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident or miscalculation or by madness.
The dictionary definition ofsword of damocles at Wiktionary
Media related toSword of Damocles at Wikimedia Commons