(no subject)

[kingandy]

It's kind of funny that there's so many characters around - in larp and in popular fiction - called Damocles. It's like people have heard of the Sword of Damocles and assumed that Damocles was this bloke who had a bit of a nifty sword. Of course if they'd ever heard the actual legend, they'd know the Sword of Damocles actually hung above Damocles' bed, in a sort of magical curse stylee. Well, I don't recall all the details myself, but it's definitely a sort of metaphor for a constant sense of dread and doom hanging over you, that may come crashing down at any moment and end your life as you know it.

damn, i really need to have that talk with sal.

Comments

[bacony.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Damocles wanted to trade places with the king, because the king had all the nice wine and the pretty girls, so the king gave him a huge banquet. Only he hung a sharpened sword over Damocles' chair, suspended by a single hair.

It was supposed to be a metaphor for the danger of power, but I always considered it a metaphor for 'Don't whine at the king, he's got a sword'.

[mistressp.livejournal.com]

That was definitely the point behind Martin O'Brien's Damoclese. He was an upstart and a socio-path - balancing the additional power that he had gained over the fact that he really had no right to that power.

[aardvarkoffnord.livejournal.com]

There was also the whole thing about even though he was being fed lots of marvellous food, it was as ashes in his mouth due to the fear of the sword above him.