Damon And Pythias Analysis

Between “Damon and Pythias” and “Two Friends”, I believe that “Two Friends” presented friendship more realistically. The fact that “Damon Pythias” is a Greek legend, meaning that it’s an exaggerated story, makes its presentation of friendship a lot less realistic. On the other hand, “Two Friends” presented friendship more realistically since the author left a lot of hints, which foreshadowed the developments of the story. For example, it may seem unrealistic that M. Sauvage and M. Morissot went fishing in spite of the danger from the German troops nearby. However, this is realistic since in the previous paragraph, it’s mentioned that “They went into a little café and had an absinthe, then resumed their stroll along the sidewalks. Morissot …show more content…
In “Damon and Pythias”, the story showed the force which opposed Damon and Pythias’s friendship by illustrating a character, Dionysius the tyrant. Pythias was unfortunately being accused by Dionysius for no reason but doubt, and he was unjustly sentenced to death. Such force forces Pythias to ask Damon for a dangerous favor, a favor that tests both Pythias’s honesty to Damon and Damon’s faith in Pythias. At the end, their friendship was demonstrated as Dionysius was moved by their honest friendship. As a result, he spared both of their lives and became friends with them. In “Two Friends”, the story showed the force which opposed M. Sauvage and M. Morissot’s friendship by setting the story in a time of war, which is the Franco-Prussian war. Through setting the time in this historical event, the friendship between the two French friends is demonstrated as they were captured by their enemies, the Prussians. When the Prussians are trying to force each of them to say the password in order to enter Paris, their ironclad friendship is demonstrated as neither of them betrayed each other by providing the password. In conclusion, “Damon and Pythias” illustrated an opposing character to show a force opposing friendship, “Two Friends” was set during an historical event, which is a time of war. Therefore, the Prussian soldiers showed a force opposing …show more content…
A true friendship is one in which both friends are willing to help each other when one is in trouble. A Chinese proverb says: Only when the year grows cold do we see the qualities of the pine and the cypress; only when the troubles come do we see true friendships. This proverb states exactly what I believe a true a friendship is; two people are only true friends when they help each other in times of trouble. However, there must be a balance between the seriousness of the trouble and the help that is provided. For example, the friendship between Damon and Pythias is tested because the level of seriousness in terms of trouble reaches the highest level. Since they are in a life or death situation, Damon accepted Pythias’s request in spite of the danger of being executed. On the other hand, a hypocritical friendship is one between two fair-weather friends who are only friends for pleasure instead of giving or receiving help. This type of friendship is inevitable and quite common in our time. I believe it’s safe to say that the majority of people’s friendships are this type. For example, a friend who doesn’t defend you when you are being bullied in school is a fair-weather friend. This type of friendship does not deserve devotion. In conclusion, I believe that it’s important to identify true friends and hypocritical friends, so appropriate devotion is integrated into these