damocles
Proper noun 1. A figure from classical legend: Damocles is the name of a courtier in the court of Dionysius I, the tyrant of Syracuse. According to the famous story, he excessively praised the happiness and fortune of the king. To illustrate the perpetual anxiety and danger of a ruler's life, Dionysius invited Damocles to a sumptuous feast but seated him beneath a sword that was suspended from the ceiling by a single horsehair.
The word "Damocles" is almost exclusively used in reference to the ancient legend. It is used to symbolize a looming and imminent danger or threat, especially one that is suspended over a person who appears to be in a state of happiness or security.
Examples: * The constant threat of layoffs hung over the company like the sword of Damocles. * Living with that diagnosis felt like having a sword of Damocles over his head. * The legend of Damocles is a classic parable about the perils of power.
The primary advanced usage is in the fixed metaphorical phrase "the sword of Damocles." This idiom encapsulates the entire concept derived from the name.
- "a sword of Damocles" / "the sword of Damocles": A constant and imminent threat or peril.
- The unresolved legal case was a sword of Damocles hanging over her political career.
- He enjoyed his success, but the fear of failure was a sword of Damocles.
- Damoclean (adjective): Of, relating to, or resembling the sword of Damocles; characterized by impending danger or threat.
- The negotiators worked under a Damoclean threat of violence.
- Imminent threat
- Looming danger
- Peril hanging over one's head
- Sword of Damocles: As detailed above, this is the standard and almost exclusive idiom associated with the name. It refers to a situation of imminent and ever-present danger.
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the Greek courtier to Dionysius the Elder who (according to legend) was condemned to sit under a naked sword that was suspended by a hair in order to demonstrate to him that being a king was not the happy state Damocles had said it was (4th century BC)
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