Then Damocles spots a disquieting reflection in the polished bronze of his mead-cup. He looks up. The wine-bearer of Dionysius has shinnied high up into the palace rafters. He’s got a sharp, heavy bronze sword, and he’s tied it to the rafter with a single woolen thread. The sword is dangling, point-first, directly over the reclining torso of Damocles.