Rules for Life

Corban Hooper Guest Post: The Legend of Damocles

According to Legend, Damocles was a Roman General who led his army against the Germainic Barbarians. He called for a charge and led his army forward. But as he reached the Barbarian lines, he realized he had been abandoned by his centurions and his army. Alone, he was quickly slain by the barbarians.

After arriving in the Underworld, the goddess of death was so enraged at what had befallen the general that she sent him back to the land of the living as a Centurion, clad all in black, wielding a flaming sword. He hunted down and killed every General, centurion, and legionaire that had abandoned him.

These endured a fate worse than death: The Sword of Damocles. A euphemism for “impending doom”. This is a doom that we all have felt at one time or another.

Think about that time you cut corners at work. Or when you should have spent time with your children but instead you stayed on the couch. Or the time you rejected your wife’s advances because you were playing video games. If you have a conscience, that failure bothers you for days afterward. Because you neglected your duty. If you are a husband, you have a duty to your wife. To love her, support her, satisfy her. If you are a father, you must care for your children and love them. And when you work, you are to do your best, not as a slave, but as a man. A hardworking man who knows his duty. It is a privilege to work, but also a duty to provide for your family.

As men, we are to lead in our homes, our communities, and the workplace. We are to fulfill our duties, accomplish our tasks and missions, to show ourselves as men.

So fulfill your duties brothers. Be loyal. Do what is right and good. Because if you don’t, you just might awaken tonight to see a centurion, clad in black mail, his sword raised high, and the shadows of hell about him. 

– Corban Hooper