Damocles (/ˈdæməkliːz/; Greek: Δαμοκλῆς Dāmoklē̂s, literally: "fame of the people") is a figure featured in a single moral anecdote commonly referred to as "the Sword of Damocles", an allusion to the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power. The Damocles of the anecdote was an obsequious courtier in the court of Dionysius II of Syracuse, a 4th-century BC tyrant of Syracuse, Sicily.