Many expressions in our speech are borrowed from ancient myths, the Bible, or literary works. Very often, using them in our speech, we do not think about their origin, although each one deserves attention and has its own history. Many of them are firmly included in our everyday life, for example, the sword of Damocles. The meaning of this expression lies in the impending danger, which can collapse at any moment, despite the external well-being.
This phraseological unit is taken from ancient Greek mythology, in particular from the “Tisculan Conversations” by Mark Tullius Cicero. According to this source, in one Greek kingdom, rule was in the hands of the Syracuse tyrant Dionysius. The king had everything in abundance, the servants did not dare to disobey him, and the whole population recognized his sole rule. He ate the best food, drank fine drinks from golden glasses and spent time in fun and feasts. From the side, his life looked carefree, and many of his subjects wanted to be in his place.
Sword of Damocles. Expression value
One of the king’s close associates was the nobleman Damocles. He did not hide his desires and intentions to taste the royal life. Dionysius decided to show him what it really is like to be a ruler, what the burden of royal responsibility is and how to live in fear, thinking about the possible betrayal of those close to you.
Having seated Damocles on the throne, the tyrant ordered his subordinates to obey him in everything, unquestioningly obey any order and render honors worthy of the king. Considering himself the happiest of mortals, Damocles took his temporary stay in the king’s place at face value. It seemed to him that he was at the peak of bliss. Suddenly, sitting on a throne, he saw a sword hanging above his head on a thin horsehair. He was hung with the tip down and could break, hitting him at any moment.
This legend explains the origin of such phraseology as the sword of Damocles. Its significance is reduced to a warning about the danger that may suddenly arise if the situation is misinterpreted. Understanding the impending threat returned Damocles with an awareness of the reality from which he wanted to turn his back.
What Dionysius undertook very clearly demonstrated the nobleman that there is no bliss if a "sword of Damocles" hangs over a person. The meaning of this expression is used in a figurative sense, it denotes an existing threat and a feeling of constant danger with external calm.
People communicate with each other, often using phraseologisms in their speech, which briefly but very capaciously characterize the situation. In Russian, there are a large number of catchphrases and expressions that make our speech concise, but not dry. The meaning of phraseological turns is to give an emotional coloring to speech and significantly enhance the meaning of spoken words. They are indivisible and only make sense if used properly.
The meaning of phraseological turns is not composed of the meaning of the individual words that make up their composition, and represent a single lexical unit. They do not allow the replacement of words or their permutation. For example, if the expression “sword of Damocles” (the meaning of phraseology is already known to us) is used in another form, for example, “sword of Damocles”, then its meaning will be lost. No wonder these phrases are also called stable. The most important characteristic of phraseological units is their ability to briefly describe an action, situation or emotional state.
Our speech becomes more colorful if we use “winged” phrases. For example, if we use the expression “sword of Damocles” (the phraseological meaning is a possible threat), then it will immediately become clear that there is a real danger behind visible well-being, which can interfere with our peace and tranquility any day.