Gaius Maecenas
The Roman 1st century BC poet Horace also alluded to the sword of Damocles in Ode 1 of the "Third Book of Odes", in which he extolled the virtues of living a simple, rustic life, favouring such an existence over the myriad threats and anxieties that accompany holding a position of power. In this appeal to his friend and patron, the aristocratic Gaius Maecenas, Horace describes the "Siculae dapes" or "Sicilian feasts" as providing no savoury pleasure to the man, "above whose impious head hangs a drawn sword ("destrictus ensis")."The phrase has also come to be used in describing any situation infused with a sense of impending doom, especially when the peril is visible and proximal—regardless of whether the victim is in a position of power. US President John F. Kennedy compared the omnipresent threat of nuclear annihilation to a sword of Damocles hanging over the people of the world. Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev wanted the Tsar Bomba to "hang like the sword of Damocles over the imperialists' heads".