Damocles

Damocles

((5335) Damocles) An interplanetary object resembling an asteroid with an unusually elliptical orbit that carries it from 22 to 1.6 AU from the Sun. It was discovered in 1991 and is now believed to be the archetype of the Damocloids (see Damocloid).

Collins Dictionary of Astronomy © Market House Books Ltd, 2006

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

Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.