Compare And Contrast Damon And Pythias

I think in the story, “Two Friends”, friendship was presented more realistically because of the events that happened in the story. I thought the story “Damon and Pythias” didn’t show a realistic approach to friendship because of how Damon didn’t hesitate and trusted his life to Pythias. Although it’s nice that they deeply care for each other, the part where they would die for each other was too exaggerated. In “Two Friends”, the way Morissot and Sauvage act around each other shows that they’re good friends. “Often they spent half a day side by side…Inevitably they had struck up a friendship.” (Maupassant, 1234). As this quote states, Morissot and Sauvage spent most of their time together fishing every Sunday. Both of the characters enjoy fishing; …show more content…
I think the clear lesson in “Damon and Pythias” was the importance of loyalty, trust, and friendship. When Pythias was given the chance to visit his family, he could only go if someone else took his place until he came back. “Pythias immediately thought of his friend Damon…never thinking for a moment that his trusty companion would refuse his request.” (Russell, 1230). Damon also didn’t hesitate at all when he was given Pythias’s request. Self-sacrifice can only be done if you truly care for each other; hence, Damon was willing to die for him. “…Damon merely smiled…he still believed that his lifelong companion would not fail him.” (Russell, 1231). From this, we can see that Damon was willing to take the chance of being betrayed by Pythias and executed because of the king’s deal. Furthermore, Pythias could’ve taken advantage of the situation and run away in order to stay alive. However, he never had that thought in mind. He immediately tried to run back to the palace before the time limit. From this, we can see that both characters are loyal and have a strong bond filled with trustfulness. Even in the worst scenarios, being able to sacrifice yourself for your friend shows that you’re loyal and caring towards each other. I think “Two Friends” didn’t teach a clear lesson because the password part was unclear and confusing. In my …show more content…
He wanted to execute Pythias because he believed that Pythias was going to overthrow him from the throne. Although Pythias was innocent, Dionysius didn’t believe him and sentenced him to death. “Dionysius…would not believe Pythias’ promise to return and would not allow him to leave unless he left behind him a hostage…put to death in his place if he should fail to return within the stated time.” (Russell, 1230). The execution put Pythias in a situation where he could betray Damon and run away. Ultimately, he decided to go back and get executed. These choices tested Pythias’s loyalty and Damon’s faith towards him. The opposing force in “Two Friends” were the Prussian soldiers. The commander, Mount Valérien, captured the two friends in order the get the passcode to get into the French territory. Mount Valérien stated, “Remember that within five minutes you will be at the bottom of that river.” (Maupassant, 1239). He also tried to get the passcode from them individually without letting the other one know; however, he failed since neither of them said anything. This a trial of loyalty for the two friends if an actual passcode even existed. Since he didn’t succeed, he decided to kill the two friends. He had no mercy as he commanded his soldiers to fire their rifles without hesitation. In the end, the soldiers dumped the corpses into the