Damocles

 
In Richard Westall's Sword of Damocles, 1812, the pretty boys of Cicero's anecdote have been changed to maidens for a neoclassical patron, Thomas Hope.
In Richard Westall's Sword of Damocles, 1812, the pretty boys of Cicero's anecdote have been changed to maidens for a neoclassical patron, Thomas Hope.

Damocles is a figure featured in a single moral anecdote which was a late addition to classical Greek culture.

The figure belongs properly to legend rather than Greek mythology. The anecdote apparently figured in the lost history of Sicily by Timaeus of Tauromenium (c. 356 - 260 BC). Cicero may have read it in Diodorus Siculus. He made use of it in his Tusculan Disputations V.61 - 62.

Damocles was an excessively flattering courtier in the court of Dionysius I of Syracuse, a 4th Century BC tyrant of Syracuse, Italy. He exclaimed that, as a great man of power and authority, Dionysius was truly fortunate. Dionysius offered to switch places with him for a day, so he could taste first hand that fortune. In the evening a banquet was held, where Damocles very much enjoyed being waited upon like a king. Only at the end of the meal did he look up and notice a sharpened sword hanging by a single piece of horsehair directly above his head. Immediately, he lost all taste for the fine foods and beautiful boys and asked leave of the tyrant, saying he no longer wanted to be so fortunate.

The Sword of Damocles is a frequently used allusion to this tale, epitomizing the insecurity of those with great power due to the possibility of that power being taken away suddenly, or, more generally, any feeling of impending doom. Woodcut images of the Sword of Damocles as a symbol appear in 16th and 17th century European books of devices.

Compare the imagery connected with Tyche and Fortuna.

Trivia

  • The winged blade on the badges of the British Special Forces units SAS SBS SRR and SFSG is officially said to be the sword of Damocles but is usually just referred to as a winged or flaming dagger.
  • In Robertson v Swincer (1989) 52 SASR 356, a South Australian Supreme Court case, Justice Legoe used the metaphor 'sword of Damocles' to describe the effect of the imposition of the tort of negligence in relation to the duty of care of a parent to their child.
  • In an address before the General Assembly of the United Nations on September 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy said, in part, "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 weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us."

Music

  • Sword of Damocles is also a song on Lou Reed's 1992 album tribute to two friends who had died of cancer, Magic and Loss, describing the tenuous balance between life and death for those dying of a terminal illness.
  • There is a reference to the Sword of Damocles in the lyrics of the song "Oh My Lord" by Nick Cave on the album No More Shall We Part. In the song, the narrator is trying to sneak out of his house to "take a walk". He kisses his wife on the brow and she grasps his hand. When he looks back at her he "could clearly see The Sword of Damocles hanging directly above her".
  • The Tub Ring song "The Promise Keeper" makes a direct reference with the line, "so on your throne, a sword is hanging overhead."
  • The Sword of Damocles was used in the song "nuclear winter" for the 1987 release of Persecution Mania. The German band "Sodom," compared the threat of impending nuclear war between the now defunct Soviet Union and the United States, as somehow being analogous to the sword of Damocles hanging by a horse hair. The actual line from the song is as follows:

Slow death is what we can expect - Strike will have just this one effect - Condemned to capital punishment - By the nuclear sword of Damocles

Television

  • In the Canadian television sitcom Made in Canada, which was set in a television production company, one of the company's projects was The Sword of Damacles (Damocles' name was intentionally misspelled for comic effect), a parody of mythological adventure series such as Xena: Warrior Princess.
  • David Brent, played by Ricky Gervais on the original BBC version of The Office, uses a Sword of Damocles analogy when he is speaking of the proposed redundencies that are rumored to be taking place around the office.

Literature

  • The book De donkere kamer van Damocles (Damocles' Dark Chamber) by Dutch author W.F. Hermans referenced to impending doom by a - failed - picture that was supposed to prove his innocence. He was accused of aiding the Germans, when he believed he was working for the rebellion.
  • "Sword of Damocles" is the title of the fourth book in the Star Trek: Titan series of novels.

Computer and video games

  • The computer game Damocles centres on the player saving a planet from a comet, Damocles, that threatens to impact it. This reference is made explicit by the inclusion of a sword in the game's title artwork.
  • During the computer game, Max Payne 2, near the end of the game, Max remarks that the spire hung over Vlad's head like the Sword of Damocles.
  • The Sword of Damocles can be collected and used as a weapon in the computer game Titan Quest, and is found, approprately enough, in Greece.

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