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Where does Tintin experience a slapstick version of the fate that (according to legend) was feared by a courtier from ancient Syracuse?

In Picaros Castafiore and Haddock are like Damon and Pythian. Did you mean this?

Sorry, it was Tintin in question, i was bit tired. Wrong alarm. :-/

I'm guessing in Tintin in America on page 48, when the sword from the "Sword of Damocles Armorer" falls on Tintin's head?

The legend says that Damocles the courtier was always flattering Dionysius, and so Dionysius offered to swap places with him. Damocles enjoyed being waited on hand and foot, but at the dining table that evening he noticed a sword hanging above his head. He then decided he didn't want to be so fortunate after all.

Strange taste in interior design, that hanging sword; you wouldn't find that in IKEA!

Well done, Richard - you've got it!

In the legend, of course, the sword hangs by a thread rather than by a chain (symbolising the constant danger that goes with the privilleges of high office, I think), but fortunately for Damocles, there are no trigger-happy policemen around to shoot through the thread. But the mere sight of the sword hanging above him, point-down, is enough to put Damocles right off his food and dispel any wishes to swap places with Dionysius. Fortunately for Tintin, the armorer shopkeeper hasn't followed the legend too exactly and has hung his sword sideways rather than point-down - painful for Tintin, but not fatal.

Richard
Strange taste in interior design, that hanging sword; you wouldn't find that in IKEA!
You might be right, Richard, but there are a lot of shops here in Edinburgh selling great big replica swords to hang in your home, and I don't think they're all bought by tourists either. I don't think you can get such things in Ikea, though. In any case, if they did branch into selling decorative weaponary, I suppose a Viking bloodaxe would be more in keeping with Ikea's Scandinavian theme. And you'd have to put it together yourself. And then go back to the shop when you find it's missing some of the bits. Only to find they don't have any in stock. Don't you just love Ikea? But I'm digressing.


Tuhatkauno, you were sort of close to the right answer, in that the Damon and Pythias story happens under that same tyranical ruler as the Damocles story -
Dionysius I, who ruled Syracuse during the 4th Century BC. However, although the situation in Tintin and the Picaros involves a tyranical ruler and hostages, it doesn't quite match that of Damon and Pythias's situation, in that nobody in Picaros is offering to take the place of their imprisoned friend, ie: offering themselves as a hostage so that someone else can go temporarily free. And Tintin couldn't really be said to experience a slapstick version of a fate feared by a courtier, as specified in my question.

So kudos to Tuhatkauno for spotting a nice classical connection, but the point and the next question-setting duties go to Richard.

hi

I was absolutely tired after writing my work and my brain wasn't functioning well. The sword was first in my mind but somehow i connected it to other direction than syracuse and without checking i answered something of the coff. I've given up checking Tintin and wikipedia maybe i should check before answering. :-)