| Damocles Δαμοκλῆς | |
|---|---|
 In Richard Westall's Sword of Damocles, 1812, the boys of Cicero's anecdote have been changed to maidens for a neoclassical patron, Thomas Hope. | |
| In-universe information | |
| Occupation | Courtier |
Damocles[a] is a character who appears in a (likely apocryphal) anecdote commonly referred to as "the sword of Damocles",[1][2] an allusion to the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power. Damocles was a courtier in the court of Dionysius I of Syracuse,[3] a ruler of Syracuse, Sicily, Magna Graecia, during the classical Greek era.
The anecdote apparently figured in the lost history of Sicily by Timaeus of Tauromenium (c. 356 – c. 260 BC). The Roman orator Cicero (c. 106 – c. 43 BC),[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.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ a b Cicero.
- ^ Westall.
- ^ "Cicero's Tusculan Disputations, On the Nature of the Gods, On the Commonwealth". www.gutenberg.org. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
- ^ "Marcus Tullius Cicero". 2012-08-07. Archived from the original on 2012-08-07. Retrieved 2021-06-07.