Damocles

Damocles has seen the sword suspended by a hair over his head, and though a good man need not be made less valuable by such a knowledge, the feast shall not henceforth have the same flavour.

The ribs were hung with trophies; the vertebrae were carved with Arsacidean annals, in strange hieroglyphics; in the skull, the priests kept up an unextinguished aromatic flame, so that the mystic head again sent forth its vapory spout; while, suspended from a bough, the terrific lower jaw vibrated over all the devotees, like the hair-hung sword that so affrighted damocles. it was a wondrous sight.

And let us, my brethren who have not our names in the Red Book, console ourselves by thinking comfortably how miserable our betters may be, and that Damocles, who sits on satin cushions and is served on gold plate, has an awful sword hanging over his head in the shape of a bailiff, or an hereditary disease, or a family secret, which peeps out every now and then from the embroidered arras in a ghastly manner, and will be sure to drop one day or the other in the right place.

Like Damocles at his celebrated banquet, Rebecca perpetually beheld, amid that gorgeous display, the sword which was suspended over the heads of her people by a single hair.

A PIONEERING use of talking therapy is helping cancer patients cope with the "Damocles effect" - the fear that their disease might cut them down any moment.

Shadow local government secretary Caroline Spelman said: "The sword of Damocles still hangs over the head of homeowners."

David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: 'What they need is support and encouragement - what they do not need is Ofsted being used as some sort of a sword of Damocles hanging over them.'

"A simple merger appeals process may have a deterrent effect on some companies though, as it would like a sword of Damocles. Another possibility is that the Commission would not decide on anti-trust cases and would have to present its case to the Court."When reviewing competition cases, the Court of First Instance could also analyse if there was any mission overlap in the Merger Task Force's activities in the competition field.

And his current tally of Festival winners-zero, either as jockey or trainer-is not quite the sword of Damocles it might at first appear either.

Lagman said Farinas' chairpersonship of the constitutional amendments committee put a 'Damocles' sword' over other chairpersons who would open the committee deliberations into a free-flowing debate instead of railroading the majority's pet bills.

Dai Davies, chief executive of Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC) - Meat Promotion Wales, said: "It is not an exaggeration to say that the sword of Damocles is hanging over the beef industry.