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Sword of Damocles

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Sword of Damocles
a closely impending disaster
sword of Damocles
signifies impending peril; blade suspended over banqueter by a hair. [Gk. Myth.: Brewer Dictionary, 297]
See : Danger
Sword of Damocles 

a metaphorical expression for a constantly threatening danger during apparent well-being. According to the ancient Greek legend, the Syracuse tyrant Dionysius the Elder (late fifth to fourth century B.C.) offered his throne for one day to his favorite, Damocles, who considered Dionysius the happiest of mortals. Thinking himself the happiest of men at a feast in his honor, Damocles suddenly noticed a naked sword suspended above his head by a single horse-hair, and he understood the illusory nature of happiness.
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Byline: Joe Riley WIRRAL may have come to its collective senses - despite what Birkenhead MP Frank Field says - and lifted the sword of Damocles hanging over its community libraries.
WIRRAL may have come to [...] by Liverpool Echo (Liverpool, England)
Byline: NEIL TURNER CHESTER CITY'S new manager Jim Harvey is relishing the task ahead, despite the current punitive points deduction which is hanging over the Blue Square Premier League club like a Sword of Damocles.
Harvey under no illusion at size of task at Chester by Daily Post (Liverpool, England)
It leaves the sword of Damocles over both the Solihull and Castle Bromwich sites until a decision is made about which is to go next year.
MP seeks talks with Tata over factory axe bid by Coventry Evening Telegraph (England)
 
 
 
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