Dionysius I (432 – 367 BC) was a Greek tyrant of Syracuse (Greek-ruled modern Sicily). He was treacherous and vain, and fancied himself a poet. King Dionysius asked a real poet named Philoxenus to judge the poems the king had written. Philoxenus pronounced them worthless. Dionysius sent him to work in the quarries—effectively a death sentence.
But the following day the king repented. He called the poet back from the quarries and threw a banquet in the poet’s honor. The king read more of his own poetry and asked Philoxenus to judge it. Philoxenus asked to be sent back to the quarries.