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Damocles |
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Damocles (dăm`əklēz), in classical mythology, courtier at the court of Dionysius I. He so persistently praised the power and happiness of Dionysius that the tyrant, in order to show the precariousness of rank and power, gave a banquet and had a sword suspended above the head of Damocles by a single hair. Hence the expression "the sword of Damocles" to mean an ever-present peril. Damocles(flourished 4th century BC) Member of the court of Dionysius I the Elder at Syracuse in Sicily. Legend holds that when Damocles spoke in extravagant terms of Dionysius's happiness, the sovereign responded by inviting Damocles to a banquet and seating him beneath a sword suspended by a thread, thereby demonstrating the precarious fortunes of people who hold power. Damocles for his sycophancy to Dionysus, seated under sword at banquet. [Gk. Myth.: LLEI, I: 278] See : Flattery Damocles, sword of sword hung by a single hair over his head. [Rom. Lit.: Brewer Handbook, 257] See : Sword How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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Damocles has seen the sword suspended by a hair over his head, and though a good man need not be made less valuable by such a knowledge, the feast shall not henceforth have the same flavour. The ribs were hung with trophies; the vertebrae were carved with Arsacidean annals, in strange hieroglyphics; in the skull, the priests kept up an unextinguished aromatic flame, so that the mystic head again sent forth its vapory spout; while, suspended from a bough, the terrific lower jaw vibrated over all the devotees, like the hair-hung sword that so affrighted damocles. Like Damocles at his celebrated banquet, Rebecca perpetually beheld, amid that gorgeous display, the sword which was suspended over the heads of her people by a single hair. |
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