Editing Damocles (section)

==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 [[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.

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 ''[[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>

[[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]]