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{{Short description|Ancient Greek moral anecdote}}
{{Other uses}}
{{redirect|Damocles|the Athenian orator|Democles|other uses}}
{{Infobox character
| name             = Damocles<br/>{{lang|el|Δαμοκλῆς}}
| series           = <!-- use without the italic on the outside -->
| image            = File:Damocles-WestallPC20080120-8842A.jpg
| image_upright    = 
| alt              = Damocles sits on a throne, looking apprehensively at a sword suspended above him. Dionysius is standing next to him and gestures at the sword. Servants, courtiers, and guards surround the two men.
| caption          = In [[Richard Westall]]'s ''Sword of Damocles'', 1812, the boys of [[Cicero]]'s anecdote have been changed to maidens for a [[neoclassicism|neoclassical]] patron, [[Thomas Hope (1769–1831)|Thomas Hope]].
| occupation       = Courtier
}}

The '''Sword of Damocles''' is an ancient Greek moral [[anecdote]],{{Sfn | Cicero}}{{Sfn | Westall}} an allusion to the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of [[Power (social and political)|power]]. Its main character, '''Damocles'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|æ|m|ə|k|l|iː|z}}; {{Langx|el|Δαμοκλῆς|lit=fame of the people|translit=Dāmoklē̂s}}}}, was based on a [[courtier]] in the court of [[Dionysius I of Syracuse]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cicero's Tusculan Disputations, On the Nature of the Gods, On the Commonwealth |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/14988/14988-h/14988-h.htm |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=www.gutenberg.org}}</ref> a ruler of [[Syracuse, Sicily]], [[Magna Graecia]], during the [[Classical Greece|classical Greek]] era.

The anecdote apparently figured in the lost history of [[Sicily]] by [[Timaeus (historian)|Timaeus of Tauromenium]] ({{circa|356|260&nbsp;BC}}). The Roman orator [[Cicero]] ({{circa|106|43&nbsp;BC}}),<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-08-07|title=Marcus Tullius Cicero|url=http://www.utexas.edu:80/depts/classics/documents/Cic.html|access-date=2021-06-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120807084722/http://www.utexas.edu:80/depts/classics/documents/Cic.html|archive-date=2012-08-07}}</ref> who may have read it in the texts of Greek historian [[Diodorus Siculus]], used it in his ''[[Tusculanae Disputationes]]'', 5. 61,{{Sfn | Cicero}} by which means it passed into the European cultural mainstream.

==Plot==
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 [[Hilt#Pommel|pommel]] only by a single [[Horsehair|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.

[[File:Sword of Damocles (Herbert Gandy).JPG|alt=Painting of the story of Damocles by British artist Herbert Gandy, featuring a Damocles surrounded by beautiful servants, lavish foods, gold, and riches, yet worriedly gazing up at an unsheathed sword above his head|thumb|Painting of the story of Damocles by British artist [[Herbert Gandy]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=HERBERT GANDY (BRITISH 1857-1934)|url=https://shapiroauctions.com/auctions/international-fine-decorative-art-auction-2016-03-12/21-herbert-gandy-british-1857-1934/|access-date=2021-05-21|website=shapiroauctions.com|language=en}}</ref> featuring a Damocles surrounded by beautiful servants, lavish foods, gold, and riches, worriedly gazing up at an unsheathed sword above his head]]

== Interpretations ==
Cicero used this story as the last in a series of contrasting examples for concluding his fifth ''[[Tusculan Disputations|Disputation]]'', in which the theme is that having virtue is sufficient for living a happy life.{{sfn|Cicero|loc=5.1|ps=: ‘virtutem ad beate vivendum se ipse esse contentam’}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jaeger |first1=Mary |title=Cicero and Archimedes' tomb |journal=Journal of Roman Studies |date=14 March 2012 |volume=92 |pages=49–61, esp. 51ff |doi=10.2307/3184859 |jstor=3184859|s2cid=162402665 }}</ref>

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.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Peralta|first=Dan-el Padilla|date=2017-11-14|title=From Damocles to Socrates|url=https://eidolon.pub/from-damocles-to-socrates-fbda6e685c26|access-date=2021-06-07|website=Medium|language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jaeger|first=Mary|date=November 2002|title=Cicero and Archimedes' Tomb|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3184859|journal=Journal of Roman Studies|volume=92|pages=49–61|doi=10.2307/3184859|jstor=3184859|s2cid=162402665|issn=0075-4358|url-access=subscription}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Verbaal|first=Wim|date=2006|title=Cicero and Dionysios the Elder, or the End of Liberty|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/clw.2006.0050|journal=Classical World|volume=99|issue=2|pages=145–156|doi=10.1353/clw.2006.0050|s2cid=161906192 |issn=1558-9234|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==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,<ref>{{cite book |quote=Evil foreboded or dreaded |title= [[Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia]] |year=1948 |contribution=Damocles}}</ref> especially one in which the onset of tragedy is restrained only by a delicate trigger or chance. William Shakespeare's ''[[Henry IV, Part 1|Henry IV]]'' expands on this theme: "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown";<ref>{{cite book |website= Phrases.org.uk|first=William |last=Shakespeare |author-link=William Shakespeare |title=Henry IV |section=Part II |year=1597 |place=London |url= http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/396000.html |type=online quotation in context}}</ref> compare the [[Hellenistic]] and [[Ancient Rome|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 (mythology)|Mars]]:
{{Text and translation
| <poem>
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.
</poem>
| <poem>
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.</poem>
| Chaucer, <i>Canterbury Tales</i>, l. 2027–2030<ref>{{cite book |publisher=Penguin Books |first=Geoffrey |last=Chaucer |author-link=Geoffrey Chaucer |title=The Canterbury Tales |year=2005 |orig-date=late 14th–early 15th century |place=London, England |editor-last=Mann |editor-first=Jill |chapter=The Knight's Tale}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |publisher=Florida State University |first=Geoffrey |last=Chaucer |author-link=Geoffrey Chaucer |title=The Canterbury Tales |year=1475 |place=UK |chapter=The Knight's Tale |chapter-url=http://english.fsu.edu/canterbury/knight.html |type=online quotation in context |via=english.fsu.edu |access-date=2015-10-11 |archive-date=2015-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151009054021/http://english.fsu.edu/canterbury/knight.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
}}
[[File:The Sword of Damocles - DPLA - 57510ac89ab98ff38f6555801defe4d5.jpg|alt=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|thumb|A [[political cartoon]] from [[Clifford K. Berryman|Clifford Berryman]] following [[World War I]], depicting a German delegate shakily signing a peace treaty as directed by the large hand of the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]], while a large sword bearing the inscription "Peace of Justice" hangs by a thread above him (1919)]]
The Roman 1st-century&nbsp;BC poet [[Horace]] also alluded to the sword of Damocles in Ode&nbsp;1 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'')."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://la.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=Carmina_(Horatius)/Liber_III/Carmen_I&oldid=58591 |title=Carmina (Horatius) |at= liber&nbsp;III, carmen&nbsp;I |via=Wikisource |publisher=Latin Wikisource}}</ref>

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#Presidency (1961–1963)|John F. Kennedy]] compared the omnipresent threat of [[nuclear annihilation]] to a sword of Damocles hanging over the people of the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Ready-Reference/JFK-Speeches/Address-Before-the-General-Assembly-of-the-United-Nations-September-25-1961.aspx |title= Address before the General Assembly of the United Nations |first=John Fitzgerald |last=Kennedy |author-link=John F. Kennedy |date=1961-09-25 |df=dmy-all |work= Selected Speeches |publisher= Presidential Library and Museum |location=Columbia Point, Boston, Massachusetts |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120901235625/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Ready-Reference/JFK-Speeches/Address-Before-the-General-Assembly-of-the-United-Nations-September-25-1961.aspx |archive-date=2012-09-01 |access-date=2011-08-05 |quote=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. |url-status=dead}}</ref> Soviet First Secretary [[Nikita Khrushchev]] wanted the [[Tsar Bomba]] to "hang like the sword of Damocles over the imperialists' heads".<ref>{{cite AV media |title=The Cold War |editor1-first=Jeremy |editor1-last=Isaacs |editor2-first=Pat |editor2-last=Mitchell |publisher=CNN |year=1998 |medium=DVD}}</ref>

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 {{sc|metus est plenus tyrannis}}.<ref>Some examples: {{cite book |publisher=Glasgow University |place=Glasgow, Scotland, UK |url= http://www.emblems.arts.gla.ac.uk/french/emblem.php?id=FLPb030 |first=Guillaume |last=La Perrière |title=Morosophie |year=1553 |at=emblem&nbsp;30}}; {{cite book |url= http://www.emblems.arts.gla.ac.uk/french/emblem.php?id=FPAb088 |first=Claude |last=Paradin |series=Devises heroïques |year=1557 |language=la |title=Coelitus impendet |publisher= Glasgow University |place=Glasgow, Scotland, UK |trans-title=It hangs from Heaven}}; {{cite book |publisher=Glasgow University |place=Glasgow, Scotland, UK |url= http://www.emblems.arts.gla.ac.uk/french/emblem.php?id=FBOb045 |first=Jean Jacques |last=Boissard |title=Emblematum Liber |year=1593 |at=emblem&nbsp;45}}</ref> A small vignette shows Damocles under a canopy of state, at the festive table, with Dionysius seated nearby;<ref>{{cite book |first=Wenceslaus |last=Hollar |author-link=Wenceslaus Hollar |title= Emblemata Nova |location=London, UK |date=n.d.}}</ref> the etching, with its clear political moral, was later used to illustrate the idea.<ref>{{cite book |first=Thomas |last=Hobbes |author-link= Thomas Hobbes |title=Philosophicall Rudiments Concerning Government and Society |location=London |year=1651}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Richard |last=Pennington |title=A Descriptive Catalogue of the Etched Work of Wenceslaus Hollar, 1607–1677 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1982 |number=450}}</ref>

<!-- The sword of Damocles is a popular phrase; to be included here, a reference must do substantially more than mention the phrase. -->References to the sword of Damocles can also be found in cartoonist illustrations, such as in [[Joseph Keppler]]'s magazine ''[[Puck (magazine)|Puck]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|title=U.S. Senate: Puck Magazine|url=https://www.senate.gov/art-artifacts/historical-images/political-cartoons-caricatures/puck-intro.htm|access-date=2021-05-21|website=www.senate.gov}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":2">For example:<br />'''Literature:''' {{cite book|last=Wodehouse|first=P.G.|title=[[Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves]]|year=1963}}{{page needed|date=October 2014}}; {{cite book|author=Bohumil Hrabal|title=Příliš hlučná samota|year=1990|trans-title=[[Too Loud a Solitude]]|author-link=Bohumil Hrabal}}{{page needed|date=October 2014}} {{cite book|last=Hermans|first=W.F.|title=De Donkere Kamer van Damocles|year=1958|trans-title=[[The Darkroom of Damocles]]|author-link=Willem Frederik Hermans}}<br />'''Film:''' ''[[Half-Wits Holiday]]'' (1947), ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]'' (1975), ''[[Escape from L.A.]]'' (1996).<br />'''TV series: "The 100" season 5, episode 12,13. 2014.;''' {{cite episode|series=[[The Simpsons]]|year=1991|title=[[Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk]]|volume=3|number=11}}; {{cite episode|series=[[The Office (UK TV series)|The Office]]|year=2001|title=[[Work Experience (The Office)|Work Experience]]|volume=1|issue=2}}; {{cite episode|series=[[Reno 911!]]|year=2008|title=Jumping the Shark|volume=5|issue=1}}; {{cite AV media|title=[[Code Geass]]|medium=TV broadcast|year=2008|volume=2|issue=24}}; {{cite AV media|title=[[K (anime)]]|medium=TV broadcast|year=2012}}<br />'''Videogames:''' ''[[Mercenary (video game)#Damocles|Damocles]]'' (1990), ''[[Tomb Raider]]'' (1996);  ''[[MechWarrior 3]]'' (1999); ''[[Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne]]'' (2003); ''[[E.Y.E.: Divine Cybermancy]]'' (2011); ''[[Ryse: Son of Rome]]'' (2013); ''[[The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth#Repentance|The Binding of Isaac: Repentance]]'' (2021).<br />'''Music:''' {{cite AV media|title=[[Toto (album)]]|author=Toto|medium=audio recording|year=1978|author-link=Toto (band)}} {{cite AV media|title=[[Hydra (Toto album)|Hydra]]|author=Toto|medium=audio recording|year=1979|author-link=Toto (band)}}  {{cite AV media|title=[[Toto IV]]|author=Toto|medium=audio recording|year=1984|author-link=Toto (band)}} (see {{cite web|date=May 2007|title=SWORD, THE|url=http://www.toto99.com/blog2010/index.php?/archives/819-SWORD,-THE.html}}); {{cite AV media|title=[[Sword of Damocles Externally]]|last=Reed|first=Lou|medium=audio recording|year=1992|author-link=Lou Reed}}; {{cite AV media|title=[[The Score (Fugees album)|Zealots]]|author=The [[Fugees]] and [[Wyclef Jean]]|medium=audio recording|year=1996}}; {{cite AV media|title=[[Oh My Lord (Nick Cave song)|Oh My Lord]]|author=Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds|medium=audio recording|year=2001|author-link=Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds}}; {{cite AV media|title=[[The Final Frontier (Iron Maiden album)|Starblind]]|author=Iron Maiden|medium=audio recording|year=2013|author-link=Iron Maiden}}</ref> Some notable examples include ''[[Damocles (video game)|Damocles]]'', a 16-bit videogame from 1990 in which the player races to prevent the titular comet Damocles from destroying a planet,<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Guyart|first1=S.|last2=Hurt|first2=A.|last3=Garycki|first3=P.|last4=Berry|first4=S.|last5=Sachs|first5=M.|date=2004|title=Hints and solution for Damocles|url=http://mercenarysite.free.fr/damocles.htm#I1|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-21|website=The Mercenary Site|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050409061204/http://mercenarysite.free.fr:80/damocles.htm |archive-date=2005-04-09 }}</ref> the song "[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show (soundtrack)|The Sword of Damocles]]" from ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]'',<ref>{{Citation|last=Ruhlmann|first=William|title=The Rocky Horror Picture Show [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] - Various Artists {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits {{!}} AllMusic|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-rocky-horror-picture-show-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-mw0000200364|language=en|access-date=2021-05-21}}</ref> and a virtual reality headset also called [[The Sword of Damocles (virtual reality)|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.<ref name=":2" />

[[File:The modern sword of Damocles - Keppler. LCCN2010652211.jpg|alt=A scene from Keppler's [[Puck (magazine)|Puck]] shows Damocles in a crown labeled "industry" standing beneath a sword labeled "coal strikes"|thumb|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)|left]]
In ''[[Made in Canada (TV series)|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 [[Ziva David captivity storyline|multi-episode plot-line]] that spanned multiple seasons of the television show [[NCIS (TV show)|NCIS]].

The Japanese anime series, K (also referred to as [[K (TV series)|K-Project]]) utilizes the theme of the sword of Damocles as an integral part of the plot for its main characters. 

The CW show ''[[The_100_(TV_series)|The 100]]'' presents its two-part finale of season 5, titled "Damocles." In this finale, General [[List_of_The_100_characters#Hope_Diyoza|Diyoza]] confronts [[List_of_The_100_characters#Octavia_Blake|Octavia]] with the words, "Do you know what your mistake was? Your mistake was enjoying it... Power... it’s the kiss of death." {{citation-needed |date=January 2025}}

In the video game ''[[Ryse: Son of Rome]]'' Damocles is a Roman general who is betrayed by his commander and eventually killed in battle and resurrected by the goddess of revenge Nemesis to kill his cowardly commanders. Marius Titus received the dagger of Damocles and later he become Damocles.

The Finnish band [[HIM (band)|HIM]] released a song called ''Shatter Me With Hope'' on their 2010 album '' [[Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice]]'' that features a reference to the sword of Damocles in the lyrics.

The American band [[Trivium (band)|Trivium]] released a song called "Like a Sword Over Damocles" on their 2021 album ''[[In the Court of the Dragon]]''.

The British band [[Sleep Token]] released a song called "Damocles" on their 2025 album [[Even in Arcadia]].

The Japanese band [[Mili (band)]] released a song called "To Your Oblivion" as a 2025 single. The single takes heavy inspiration from the sword of Damocles.

In the anime [[Code Geass season 2|Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion]]'s second season, ''Damocles'' is the name of a flying fortress capable of firing nuclear warheads.

The sword of Damocles is an oft-used symbol in modern [[hip hop music|hip hop]], an allusion used to impart the threat "kingly" [[Rapping|rappers]] face of being deposed as the best of the best. It is referenced in the lyrics of the song "Zealots" by [[Fugees|The Fugees]] in 1996.<ref name=":1" /> It also appears in the music of [[Kanye West]], both in the music video for his single "[[Power (Kanye West song)|Power]]" in 2010, where a sword is positioned above West's head as he stands amidst rows of [[Ionic order|Ionic]] columns, and in later cover art for the song, which features the impaled head of a black man wearing a crown.<ref name=":1" />
{{Clear}}

==See also ==
* [[Croesus and Fate]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Works cited===
* {{Citation | url = https://www.livius.org/sources/content/cicero/tusculan-deputations/damocles/ | type = translation | last = Cicero | title = Tusculan Disputations | at = V. 61 | publisher = Livius.org}}.
* {{Citation |publisher=UNC |url=http://www.unc.edu/ackland/collection/?action=details&object_link_id=79.10.1 |first=Richard |last=Westall |type=painting |title=The sword of Damocles |series=[[Ackland Art Museum]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813165612/http://www.unc.edu/ackland/collection/?action=details&object_link_id=79.10.1 |archive-date=13 August 2018}}.

==External links==
*{{wiktionary-inline}}
*{{Commons category-inline}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Anecdotes]]