Who was Damocles and why when people say 'He has the sword of Damocles hangi

Question: Who was Damocles and why when people say 'He has the sword of Damocles hanging over him'!.!.!.!?

!.!.!.is it a bad thing!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Hi CF,
Damocles, was a servile courtier to King Dionysius I of Syracuse!. The king, weary of Damocles' obsequious flattery, invited him to a banquet and seated him under a sword hung by a single hair, so as to point out to him the precariousness of his position!. The idiom Damocles' sword refers to Impending disaster, as in the likelihood of lay-offs has been a sword of Damocles over the department for months!. This expression alludes to the legend of Damocles and was first recorded in 1747!. The same story gave rise to the expression "hang by a thread"!.
I hope this is of help to you Cyber Frog,
Cathorio!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Damocles (d?m`?klēz), in classical mythology, courtier at the court of Dionysius I!. He so persistently praised the power and happiness of Dionysius that the tyrant, in order to show the precariousness of rank and power, gave a banquet and had a sword suspended above the head of Damocles by a single hair!. Hence the expression "the sword of Damocles" to mean an ever-present peril!.Www@QuestionHome@Com