The Sword of Damocles: A Lesson on Power and Peril ⚔️
Discover the story of Damocles and how it reveals the hidden dangers of wielding great power. A timeless cautionary tale about the fragility of fortune and the weight of leadership.
Ancient Recitations
170.2K views • Feb 4, 2016
About this video
The Sword of Damocles is the cautionary tale of Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, who demonstrates to Damocles, an admirer and lackey at his court, that the riches and power the tyrant possesses cannot be enjoyed because the tyrant is but a horse-hair away from death at the hands of his own subjects.
The story is related by Cicero in his work The Tusculan Disputations.
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=02NZAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA215&lpg=PA215&dq=cicero+sword+of+damocles+translation&source=bl&ots=T_rUiDx3Ry&sig=aVyl6NZbsRXIoUVqmFUZoVVdt_c&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwim8sHYhd7KAhUEPxQKHcvSCBgQ6AEIVjAJ#v=onepage&q=cicero%20sword%20of%20damocles%20translation&f=false
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The story is related by Cicero in his work The Tusculan Disputations.
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=02NZAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA215&lpg=PA215&dq=cicero+sword+of+damocles+translation&source=bl&ots=T_rUiDx3Ry&sig=aVyl6NZbsRXIoUVqmFUZoVVdt_c&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwim8sHYhd7KAhUEPxQKHcvSCBgQ6AEIVjAJ#v=onepage&q=cicero%20sword%20of%20damocles%20translation&f=false
Follow Ancient Recitations for extra content on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AncientRecitations
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Video Information
Views
170.2K
Likes
2.8K
Duration
4:53
Published
Feb 4, 2016
User Reviews
4.7
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