Class. Legend a courtier of ancient Syracuse who was given a lesson in the perils to a ruler's life when the king seated him at a feast under a sword hanging by a single hair
See Damocles in American Heritage Dictionary 4
(dămˈə-klēzˌ) fl. fourth century B.C.
Greek courtier to Dionysius the Elder, tyrant of Syracuse, who according to legend was forced to sit at a banquet table under a sword suspended by a single hair to demonstrate the precariousness of a king's fortunes.