The Sword of Damocles

Mythology

An expression that is often used today is the ‘sword of Damocles’. This expression comes from ancient Greek history, found in a tale written by the Roman philosopher Cicero to convey a moral lesson. Interestingly, the way in which this expression is commonly used today generally does not convey the same point that Cicero was making. So, what does the sword of Damocles really mean? And what is the story behind it?

Illustration of a coin of Dionysius I of Syracuse, Guillaume Rouille, 1553

Dionysius I of Syracuse

To begin with, let us consider one of the main characters in the legend of the sword of Damocles. The king of the story is Dionysius I of Syracuse. He was the ruler of the Greek city of Syracuse in Sicily from 405 to 367 BCE. He was a powerful leader, being responsible for attacks on the prominent Etruscan cities of Caere and Pyrgi.

However, powerful though he was, Dionysius was by no means popular. He was infamous for his cruelty. He was a highly suspicious person and feared that everyone was out to get him. Admittedly, this suspicion may not have been misplaced, given his cruel treatment of his subjects and even his own family.

Damocles

The other main character of the story of the sword of Damocles is, of course, the man named Damocles. He was one of the courtiers of King Dionysius I of Syracuse. Very little is known about him, since he essentially only appears in Greek records in relation to this story about the sword.

Nonetheless, what little we do know of him indicates that he served closely with the king, having the opportunity to speak personally with him. Cicero calls him ‘one of the king’s flatterers’, meaning a professional flatterer. That is, it was Damocles’ job to give compliments to the king.

The Story of the Sword of Damocles

In the story of the sword of Damocles, the courtier Damocles is in the presence of King Dionysius. He starts praising the king and talking about how he must be so happy. After all, he has so much power, wealth, and pleasures. He has everything he could ever want. No one was as great as he was.

Dionysius then gives a surprising response. He asks Damocles if he would like to have a taste of the king’s life. He offers him the opportunity to live as king of Syracuse for one day, with all the luxuries, power, and pleasures that Damocles had just extolled. Damocles happily accepts Dionysius’ offer.

The king has Damocles clothed in beautiful attire, gives him a golden couch to sit on, surrounds him all with sorts of luxury, and arranges a banquet for him. Food is served by the most beautiful women, and relaxing incense is burned. Damocles truly experiences the life that he was praising. Yet, that is not the only thing that Dionysius arranges. There is one final touch.

Right above Damocles’ head, Dionysius gets his men to hang a sword from the ceiling. It is unsheathed, with the deadly blade pointing directly at Damocles. It is suspended by a single hair from a horse’s tail. Damocles, understandably, is shocked by this incredibly precarious situation that he now finds himself in. He cannot eat, nor is he charmed by the beautiful women. His only focus is the sword dangling above his head.

Finally, Damocles begs the king to be relieved of this experience. The king lets him go, having taught his courtier a valuable life lesson.

What Moral Lesson Does the Sword of Damocles Teach?

The sword of Damocles teaches a valuable moral lesson about happiness in life. At the start of the story, Damocles believes that the power, wealth, and luxuries of the king must logically mean that he is very happy. How could a ruler without equal not be happy?

However, by going through the experience of having a sword dangling above his head, Damocles leans that power and luxuries do not necessarily bring happiness. In fact, Dionysius’ position of power and wealth automatically puts him in a lot of danger. He is in an enviable position, which means that people naturally want to overthrow him to take what he has.

Furthermore, the process by which Dionysius achieved his power involved many acts of cruelty. He did not become such a powerful person by being nice. Those acts of cruelty from his past – and present, for that matter, for they were continuously necessary to maintain his position – would easily motivate people to try to take revenge.

In reality, a person who has a simpler life is much more likely to be happy. Their life, unlike that of Dionysius of Syracuse, would not be fraught with danger and the constant sense of dread and anxiety that comes along with that.

Misunderstandings of the Moral Lesson

Today, the expression ‘sword of Damocles’ is often used with a meaning that does not really fit the original moral lesson. It is now commonly used in the sense of impending doom, and the person having this sense of doom does not necessarily have a position of power. In both aspects, this does not fit the ancient intent.

The sword of Damocles did not represent any ‘impending doom’ being experienced by Dionysius, as if there were a threat to his life or his kingdom that he knew was coming but he could not stop. Rather, it was merely the fact that his life was constantly in danger, due to the position of power he held.

Political cartoon depicting a modern use of the expression ‘Sword of Damocles’, 1919
Source

Furthermore, by definition, this threat was related to his position of power. Therefore, it does not make sense to use it to refer to a threat experienced by the common people or someone who does not have a position of power.

For example, the US President John F Kennedy used the expression ‘sword of Damocles’ in reference to the threat of nuclear war and the danger it posed to the world. Earlier, in 1919, a satirical cartoon was drawn of a scared German official signing a peace treaty with a sword dangling above his head by a single hair. Clearly, the German official was not the one in a position of power in that situation, contradicting the original meaning of the ‘sword of Damocles’.

The Source of the Story

The story of the sword of Damocles comes from Cicero, a Roman philosopher who lived in the first century BCE. He wrote about it in Tusculan Disputations, which was a series of five books about life. The first book deals with avoiding the fear of death; the second is about dealing with pain; the third, about dealing with grief; the fourth is about emotional disturbances; and the fifth is about whether happiness depends solely on virtue.

It is the fifth book that contains the story of the sword of Damocles. There, Cicero uses it as part of his argument that virtue alone is, in fact, all that is necessary to be happy. He uses it to highlight the folly of trying to attain wealth and power to achieve happiness.

Some modern sources claim that the moral of the story is that we all have the threat of death looming over us, even those who have lots of wealth and power. But if this were the lesson, then the story would have been found in the first book, which is all about the fear of death.

The fact that the story is in the fifth book makes it clear that the lesson from the story is about how trying to achieve power and wealth does not bring happiness – often, it brings the opposite.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the ‘sword of Damocles’ is an expression that comes from an ancient story about a Greek tyrant, Dionysius I of Syracuse, and his courtier, Damocles. The king’s courtier assumes that Dionysius must be one of the happiest men alive, because he has enormous power and every luxury he could possibly desire.

Yet, in reality, the king is not a happy person at all. He allows Damocles to experience this for himself by allowing him to live like a king for one day, yet with a sword dangling precariously above his head by a single horse’s hair. Damocles realises that all the power and wealth of a king is meaningless if it means having the constant anxiety of potential death at any moment.

The ultimate moral lesson of the story is that power and wealth do not bring happiness. In fact, they often conflict with happiness. The process of attaining them often makes enemies, and once you have them, people may feel the desire to steal them from you. The Roman philosopher used this to illustrate his belief that virtue alone was what made a person happy.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Who Was Damocles in Greek Mythology?

Damocles is a very obscure figure. He does not seem to have had any wider role in Greek history or legend beyond his role in this story about him as a flatterer of Dionysius.

What Does the Name ‘Damocles’ Mean?

The name ‘Damocles’ is a Greek name meaning ‘glory of the people’. The first element comes from ‘demo’, meaning ‘people’. We see this in the modern English word ‘democracy’, which means ‘rule of the people’. The second part of the name Damocles comes from ‘kleos’, meaning ‘glory’. We see this in the name of Heracles, whose name means ‘glory of Hera’.

Did the Sword of Damocles Ever Fall?

No, in the story as recorded by Cicero, the sword of Damocles does not fall. After Damocles pleads with Dionysius to end the experience, the sword is presumably taken down.

Was the Sword of Damocles Real?

No one can say for sure whether this sword ever really existed. The story about Damocles and his experience under the sword set up by Dionysius comes from centuries after these people lived. They lived in the first half of the fourth century BCE, whereas Cicero was writing in the first century BCE, over 300 years later. This does not necessarily mean that he invented the story, but we cannot confirm that it really occurred either.

Did Damocles Really Exist?

It does appear that Damocles was a real person. The grammarian Athenaeus, writing in c. 200 CE, referred to the now-lost writings of Timaeus of Tauromenium, who wrote in the first half of the third century BCE. These references included several mentions of Damocles as a flatterer of Dionysius II (the son of Dionysius I). Given that Timaeus was writing well within a century of the rule of that king, we can trust the historicity of his references to Damocles.