sword of Damocles

Etymology
From the following story: "Damocles was an obsequious courtier in the court of Dionysius II of Syracuse, a fourth century BC tyrant of Syracuse. Damocles exclaimed that, as a great man of power and authority, Dionysius was truly fortunate. Dionysius offered to switch places with him for a day, so he could taste that fortune first-hand. In the evening a banquet was held, where Damocles very much enjoyed being waited upon like a king. Only at the end of the meal did he look up and notice a sharpened sword hanging directly above his head, held only by a single horse-hair. Immediately, he lost all taste for the festivities and asked leave of the tyrant, saying he no longer wanted to be so fortunate. Dionysius had successfully conveyed a sense of the constant threat under which a powerful man lives."

From.

Noun

 * 1) A thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune.

Translations

 * Arabic: سيف مسلت
 * Armenian:
 * Bulgarian: дамо́клев меч
 * Catalan: espasa de Dàmocles
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin: 達摩克利斯之劍
 * Danish: damoklessværd
 * Dutch: zwaard van Damocles
 * Esperanto: glavo de Damoklo
 * Finnish: Damokleen miekka
 * French:
 * German:
 * Greek: Δαμόκλειος σπάθη
 * Hausa: takobin damokilis
 * Hebrew:
 * Hungarian: Damoklész kardja
 * Italian: spada di Damocle
 * Japanese: ダモクレスの剣
 * Norwegian:
 * Bokmål: damoklessverd
 * Nynorsk: damoklessverd
 * Persian:
 * Polish:
 * Portuguese: espada de Dâmocles
 * Russian:
 * Spanish:
 * Swedish: