Damocles (redirected from Damocles' sword)

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.

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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.

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Damocles

for his sycophancy to Dionysus, seated under sword at banquet. [Gk. Myth.: LLEI, I: 278]

See : Flattery

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Damocles,

sword of sword hung by a single hair over his head. [Rom. Lit.: Brewer Handbook, 257]

See : Sword