I have heard this term all my life. Certainly, it comes from antiquity but I was never sure who Damocles was nor under what circumstances a sword came to be dangling over his head. My entire knowledge of this fellow and his sword was from The Three Stooges.
The reference to the sword of Damocles was in their 97th short film, Half-Wits Holiday, made in 1947 and was the prelude to the kind of epic pie fights the Stooge films were known for. The boys found themselves at a high society gathering and were trying to fit in.
The scene in the film involved Moe, Curly, and a society lady played by Symona Boniface. Boniface’s character was name Mrs. Smythe-Smythe. Curly takes an entire pie from the buffet and is about to bite into it without having cut it or without using utensils. Moe sees this, chastises him, and takes the pie. As he sees Mrs. Smythe-Smythe approaching, he is not sure what to do with the pie. So, he tosses it up and sticks to the ceiling. Mrs. Smythe-Smythe approaches Moe and is standing right under the pie which is about to come down. Moe encourages Mrs. Smythe-Smythe to leave when she utters the line, “Young man, what’s wrong, you act as if the sword of Damocles is hanging over your head.” The pie comes down right on her face and in wiping it off and throwing it laterally, it hit another guest and the pie fight is on.
I always wondered what the sword of Damocles was all about. So, I finally searched it. History.com had an excellent explanation:
The famed “sword of Damocles” dates back to an ancient moral parable popularized by the Roman philosopher Cicero in his 45 B.C. book “Tusculan Disputations.” Cicero’s version of the tale centers on Dionysius II, a tyrannical king who once ruled over the Sicilian city of Syracuse during the fourth and fifth centuries B.C. Though rich and powerful, Dionysius was supremely unhappy. His iron-fisted rule had made him many enemies, and he was tormented by fears of assassination—so much so that he slept in a bedchamber surrounded by a moat and only trusted his daughters to shave his beard with a razor.
As Cicero tells it, the king’s dissatisfaction came to a head one day after a court flatterer named Damocles showered him with compliments and remarked how blissful his life must be. “Since this life delights you,” an annoyed Dionysius replied, “do you wish to taste it yourself and make a trial of my good fortune?” When Damocles agreed, Dionysius seated him on a golden couch and ordered a host of servants wait on him. He was treated to succulent cuts of meat and lavished with scented perfumes and ointments. Damocles couldn’t believe his luck, but just as he was starting to enjoy the life of a king, he noticed that Dionysius had also hung a razor-sharp sword from the ceiling. It was positioned over Damocles’ head, suspended only by a single strand of horsehair. From then on, the courtier’s fear for his life made it impossible for him to savor the opulence of the feast or enjoy the servants. After casting several nervous glances at the blade dangling above him, he asked to be excused, saying he no longer wished to be so fortunate.
The history.com piece claims that the sword of Damocles is a general term for looming danger and attributes the related “hanging by a thread” to mean the same thing. While I do hear people say “hanging by a thread” somewhat often, I do not recall anyone using the Sword of Damocles phrase at all except, of course, when they are referring to The Three Stooges.
The Sword of Damocles is a symbol of perpetual and looming danger and doom. Yet, that is not the only moral in the myth or perhaps not the full breadth of the moral. There is the “watch out what you ask for” part. Damocles wanted the king’s life but only the good parts. He wanted no part of the negative aspects which the king made sure he experienced in full. Another interpretation may be to never envy a tyrant if you are not willing and able to deal with the hate and associated risks that come along with the seemingly pleasant and luxurious parts. I like these two interpretations more.
A sad twist to The Three Stooges short is that Half-Wits Holiday was the last film Jerome “Curly” Howard would star in. After the scene where Moe took the pie from Curly and tossed it up to the ceiling, Curly went off-stage and had a stroke that ended his career as a Stooge. He was replaced by his brother Samuel “Shemp” Howard.
Here is the Sword of Damocles clip from Half-Wits Holiday:
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