The anecdote apparently figured in the lost history of Sicily by Timaeus of Tauromenium (c.356– c.260BC). The Roman orator Cicero (c.106– c.43BC),[4] who may have read it in the texts of Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, used it in his Tusculanae Disputationes, 5. 61,[1] by which means it passed into the European cultural mainstream.
Sword of Damocles
According to the story, Damocles was flattering his king, Dionysius, exclaiming that Dionysius was truly fortunate as a great man of power and authority without peer, surrounded by magnificence. In response, Dionysius offered to switch places with Damocles for one day so that Damocles could taste that fortune firsthand. Damocles eagerly accepted the king's proposal. Damocles sat on the king's throne amid embroidered rugs, fragrant perfumes, and the service of beautiful attendants. But Dionysius, who had made many enemies during his reign, arranged that a sword should hang above the throne, held at the pommel only by a single hair of a horse's tail to evoke the sense of what it is like to be king: though having much fortune, always having to watch in anxiety against dangers that might try to overtake him, whether it is a jealous advisor or servant, a slanderous rumor, an enemy kingdom, a poor royal decision, or anything else. Damocles finally begged the king for permission to depart because he no longer wanted to be so fortunate, realizing that while he had everything he could ever want at his feet, it could not affect what was above his crown.
King Dionysius effectively conveyed the constant fear in which a person with great power may live. Dionysius committed many cruelties in his rise to power, such that he could never go on to rule justly because that would make him vulnerable to his enemies. Cicero used this story as the last in a series of contrasting examples for concluding his fifth Disputation, in which the theme is that having virtue is sufficient for living a happy life.[5][6]
Painting of the story of Damocles by British artist Herbert Gandy, featuring a Damocles surrounded by beautiful servants, lavish foods, gold, and riches, worriedly gazing up at an unsheathed sword above his head
Differing interpretations
Cicero's meaning in the story of the Sword of Damocles has alternative interpretations. Cicero states, "Doesn't Dionysius seem to have made it plenty clear that nothing is happy for him over whom terror always looms?" arguing that those in positions of power can never rest and truly enjoy that power.[8] Some take this and argue further, stating that the point was that death looms over all, but that it is vital to strive to be happy and enjoy life in spite of that terror.[9] Others take the meaning to be something akin to "don't judge someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes," as it is impossible to know what someone is struggling with, even if their life seems to be perfect to the outside observer. Just as King Dionysius's life looked luxurious and flawless on the outside to Damocles, so too might the lives of others that one covets for oneself.[9] One other interpretation sees the story of the sword of Damocles as explicitly meant for Julius Caesar, implicitly suggesting that he should take care not to act the same way that King Dionysius did, making enemies and denying spiritual life, falling prey to the pitfalls of the tyrant, and mind the sword hanging ever-present over his neck.[10]
Use in culture, art, and literature
The sword of Damocles is frequently used in allusion to this tale, epitomizing the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power. More generally, it is used to denote the sense of foreboding engendered by a precarious situation,[11] especially one in which the onset of tragedy is restrained only by a delicate trigger or chance. William Shakespeare's Henry IV expands on this theme: "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown";[12] compare the Hellenistic and Roman imagery connected with the insecurity offered by Tyche and Fortuna.
In The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer refers to the sword of Damocles, which the Knight describes as hanging over Conquest. When the Knight describes the three temples, he also pays special attention to the paintings, noticing one on the walls of the temple of Mars:
And al above, depeinted in a tour, Saugh I Conquest, sitting in greet honour, With the sharpe swerd over his heed, Hanginge by a subtil twines threed.
Above, where seated in his tower, I saw Conquest depicted in his power There was a sharpened sword above his head That hung there by the thinnest simple thread.
A political cartoon from Clifford Berryman following World War I, depicting a German delegate shakily signing a peace treaty as directed by the large hand of the Allied Powers, while a large sword bearing the inscription "Peace of Justice" hangs by a thread above him (1919)
The Roman 1st-centuryBC poet Horace also alluded to the sword of Damocles in Ode1 of the Third Book of Odes, in which he extolled the virtues of living a simple, rustic life, favoring such an existence over the myriad threats and anxieties that accompany holding a position of power. In this appeal to his friend and patron, the aristocratic Gaius Maecenas, Horace describes the Siculae dapes or "Sicilian feasts" as providing no savory pleasure to the man, "above whose impious head hangs a drawn sword (destrictus ensis)."[15]
A scene from Joseph Keppler's Puck showing Damocles, wearing a crown labeled "Industry", standing beneath a large sword, labeled "Coal Strikes", which hangs above him by a thread, suggesting that the coal strikes at the beginning of the 20th century were the modern-day sword of Damocles (1903)
The phrase has also come to be used in describing any situation infused with a sense of impending doom, especially when the peril is visible and proximal—regardless of whether the victim is in a position of power. United States President John F. Kennedy compared the omnipresent threat of nuclear annihilation to a sword of Damocles hanging over the people of the world.[16] Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev wanted the Tsar Bomba to "hang like the sword of Damocles over the imperialists' heads".[17]
Woodcut images of the sword of Damocles as an emblem appear in 16th- and 17th-century European books of devices, with moralizing couplets or quatrains, with the import METUS EST PLENUS TYRANNIS.[18] A small vignette shows Damocles under a canopy of state, at the festive table, with Dionysius seated nearby;[19] the etching, with its clear political moral, was later used to illustrate the idea.[20][21]
References to the sword of Damocles can also be found in cartoonist illustrations, such as in Joseph Keppler's magazine Puck,[22] a satiric periodical started in the late 1800s in the United States, and the sword can be used as a device to call attention to the peril that current events or contentious issues of the time place the world in.
The sword of Damocles frequently appears in popular culture, including novels, feature films, television series, video games, and music.[23] Some notable examples include Damocles, a 16-bit videogame from 1990 in which the player races to prevent the titular comet Damocles from destroying a planet,[24] the song "The Sword of Damocles" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show,[25] and a virtual reality headset also called The Sword of Damocles, developed by Ivan Sutherland in 1968, named for its suspension from the ceiling of the lab in which it was developed and its foreboding appearance.[23]
In Made in Canada, a Canadian television series that ran from 1998 to 2003, Sword of Damacles was the name of an in-series television show produced by Pyramid, the production company the show centres around.
The Damocles is the name of the ship that is used in a multi-episode plot-line that spanned multiple seasons of the television show NCIS.
The CW show The 100 presents its two-part finale of season 5, titled "Damocles." In this finale, General Diyoza confronts Octavia with the words, "Do you know what your mistake was? Your mistake was enjoying it... Power... it’s the kiss of death."
The sword of Damocles is an oft-used symbol in modern hip hop, an allusion used to impart the threat "kingly" rappers face of being deposed as the best of the best. It is referenced in the lyrics of the song "Zealots" by The Fugees in 1996.[8] It also appears in the music of Kanye West, both in the music video for his single "Power" in 2010, where a sword is positioned above West's head as he stands amidst rows of Ionic columns, and in later cover art for the song, which features the impaled head of a black man wearing a crown.[8]
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's magnum opus. The tales are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return.
Geoffrey Chaucer was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for The Canterbury Tales. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He was the first writer to be buried in what has since come to be called Poets' Corner, in Westminster Abbey. Chaucer also gained fame as a philosopher and astronomer, composing the scientific A Treatise on the Astrolabe for his 10-year-old son, Lewis. He maintained a career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier, diplomat, and member of parliament.
Dionysius I or Dionysius the Elder was a Greek tyrant of Syracuse, Sicily. He conquered several cities in Sicily and southern Italy, opposed Carthage's influence in Sicily and made Syracuse the most powerful of the Western Greek colonies. He was regarded by the ancients as the worst kind of despot: cruel, suspicious, and vindictive.
"The Miller's Tale" is the second of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1380s–1390s), told by the drunken miller Robin to "quite" "The Knight's Tale". The Miller's Prologue is the first "quite" that occurs in the tales.
"The Wife of Bath's Tale" is among the best-known of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. It provides insight into the role of women in the Late Middle Ages and was probably of interest to Chaucer, himself, for the character is one of his most developed ones, with her Prologue twice as long as her Tale. He also goes so far as to describe two sets of clothing for her, in his General Prologue. She calls herself both Alyson and Alys in the prologue, but to confuse matters, these are also the names of her 'gossip', whom she mentions several times, as well as many female characters throughout The Canterbury Tales.
"The Prioress's Tale" is one of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.
"The Squire's Tale" is a tale in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. It is unfinished, because it is interrupted by the next story-teller, the Franklin, who then continues with his own prologue and tale. The Squire is the Knight's son, a novice warrior and lover with more enthusiasm than experience. His tale is an epic romance, which, if completed, would probably have been longer than rest of the Tales combined. It contains many literary allusions and vivid descriptions.
"The Physician's Tale" is one of The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century.
Humanitas is a Latin noun meaning human nature, civilization, and kindness. It has uses in the Enlightenment, which are discussed below.
The Legend of Good Women is a poem in the form of a dream vision by Geoffrey Chaucer during the fourteenth century.
Dionysius the Younger, or Dionysius II, was a Greek politician who ruled Syracuse, Sicily from 367 BC to 357 BC and again from 346 BC to 344 BC.
The Tusculanae Disputationes is a series of five books written by Cicero, around 45 BC, attempting to popularise Greek philosophy in Ancient Rome, including Stoicism. It is so called as it was reportedly written at his villa in Tusculum. His daughter had recently died and in mourning Cicero devoted himself to philosophical studies. The Tusculan Disputations consist of five books, each on a particular theme: On the contempt of death; On pain; On grief; On emotional disturbances; and whether Virtue alone is sufficient for a happy life.
In medieval and ancient philosophy, the Wheel of Fortune or Rota Fortunae is a symbol of the capricious nature of Fate. The wheel belongs to the goddess Fortuna who spins it at random, changing the positions of those on the wheel: some suffer great misfortune, others gain windfalls. The metaphor was already a cliché in ancient times, complained about by Tacitus, but was greatly popularized for the Middle Ages by its extended treatment in the Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius from around 520. It became a common image in manuscripts of the book, and then other media, where Fortuna, often blindfolded, turns a large wheel of the sort used in watermills, to which kings and other powerful figures are attached.
There are two pseudo-Chaucerian texts called "The Plowman's Tale".
Charles Duke Yonge was an English historian, classicist and cricketer. He wrote numerous works of modern history, and translated several classical works. His younger brother was George Edward Yonge.
De casibus virorum illustrium is a work of 56 biographies in Latin prose composed by the Florentine poet Giovanni Boccaccio of Certaldo in the form of moral stories of the falls of famous people, similar to his work of 106 biographies De Mulieribus Claris.
"With great power comes great responsibility" is a proverb popularized by Spider-Man in Marvel comics, films, and related media. Introduced by Stan Lee, it originally appeared as a closing narration in the 1962 Amazing Fantasy #15, and was later attributed to Uncle Ben as advice to the young Peter Parker. The idea—similar to the 1st century BC parable of the Sword of Damocles and the medieval principle of noblesse oblige—is that power cannot simply be enjoyed for its privileges alone but necessarily makes its holders morally responsible both for what they choose to do with it and for what they fail to do with it. After it was popularized by the Spider-Man franchise, similar formulations have been noticed in the work of earlier writers and orators. The formulation—usually in its Marvel Comics form—has been used by journalists, authors, and other writers, including the Supreme Court of the United States.
Siege of Thebes is a 4716-line poem written by John Lydgate between 1420 and 1422. Lydgate composed the Siege of Thebes directly following his composition of Troy Book - which was patronized by King Henry V - and directly preceding his production of The Fall of Princes - which Humphrey Duke of Gloucester patronized during King Henry VI's regency. The poem is particularly significant because it was written without an identifiable patron, and most probably without patron or commission whatsoever. Whatever the status of its patronage, the Siege of Thebes still managed to gain significant popularity, attested to by its 31 surviving manuscripts. The poem is, in large part, a response to Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Lydgate's poem borrows The Canterbury Tales' pilgrimage-based framing device and is written as an additional tale in the cycle. However, unlike Chaucer, Lydgate establishes himself as the narrator of the work, and recounts the siege of Thebes. Lydgate's Siege of Thebes follows and expands upon the Theban Cycle, but makes significant additions to the source materials.
On Passions, also translated as On Emotions or On Affections, is a work by the Greek Stoic philosopher Chrysippus dating from the 3rd-century BCE. The book has not survived intact, but around seventy fragments from the work survive in a polemic written against it in the 2nd-century CE by the philosopher-physician Galen. In addition Cicero summarises substantial portions of the work in his 1st-century BCE work Tusculan Disputations. On Passions consisted of four books; of which the first three discussed the Stoic theory of emotions and the fourth book discussed therapy and had a separate title—Therapeutics. Most surviving quotations come from Books 1 and 4, although Galen also provides an account of Book 2 drawn from the 1st-century BCE Stoic philosopher Posidonius. Little or nothing is known about Book 3.
"Sword of Damocles" is a song by Rufus Wainwright, released in October 2018. Wainwright made the song available for purchase after a premiere performance on The Late Late Show with James Corden on October 18, with a portion of proceeds benefiting voter registration efforts. The song's music video, directed by Andrew Ondrejcak, features Wainwright as Dionysius II of Syracuse and Darren Criss as Damocles.
↑ Chaucer, Geoffrey (2005) [late 14th–early 15th century]. "The Knight's Tale". In Mann, Jill (ed.). The Canterbury Tales. London, England: Penguin Books.
↑ Chaucer, Geoffrey (1475). "The Knight's Tale". The Canterbury Tales (online quotation in context). UK: Florida State University. Archived from the original on 2015-10-09. Retrieved 2015-10-11– via english.fsu.edu.
↑ Kennedy, John Fitzgerald (25 September 1961). "Address before the General Assembly of the United Nations". Selected Speeches. Columbia Point, Boston, Massachusetts: Presidential Library and Museum. Archived from the original on 1 September 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2011. 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.
↑ Isaacs, Jeremy; Mitchell, Pat, eds. (1998). The Cold War (DVD). CNN.
↑ Some examples: La Perrière, Guillaume (1553). Morosophie. Glasgow, Scotland, UK: Glasgow University. emblem30.; Paradin, Claude (1557). Coelitus impendet[It hangs from Heaven]. Devises heroïques (in Latin). Glasgow, Scotland, UK: Glasgow University.; Boissard, Jean Jacques (1593). Emblematum Liber. Glasgow, Scotland, UK: Glasgow University. emblem45.
↑ Guyart, S.; Hurt, A.; Garycki, P.; Berry, S.; Sachs, M. (2004). "Hints and solution for Damocles". The Mercenary Site. Archived from the original on 2005-04-09. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
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