Damon and Pythias - Greek Mythology
This is a story that happened long ago on the island of Sicily
Well, that is how it is with bad people. They know they are bad, so their mind does not feel good and they are not very happy, even though they look like they have a lot of stuff and that should make them happy.
There were two very good friends in the city named Pythias and Damon. They did not like the king because he was so bad. Dionysius knew that they hated him and was scared that they may attack him. So he asked his soldiers to catch Pythias and bring him to the court. The soldiers did their job; they went searching for Pythias, caught him, tied him up and brought him to the king. The king knew that Pythias was strong and so he decided to put Pythias to death. But, he asked Pythias if he wanted to do anything before his death.
Pythias said “Could I please go and meet my parents. They live quite a distance from here. But they are old and cannot come to see me. Dionysius said “Ha, do you expect me to trust you? You will run away the moment I let you go”. Pythias said “I promise I will come back. I will ask my friend Damon to wait in the prison till I come. You can put him to death if I don’t come back. Damon is my dearest friend and I would never let him die instead of me. I will come back as soon as I have said goodbye to my parents. Dionysius laughed out loud “What kind of a fool is Damon? Why would he trust you?”. So he asked Damon, “Will you stay here till Pythias comes back. If he does not return, I will put you to death instead of him”. Damon said “No problem. My dear friend Pythias wants to see his parents. So I will help him by staying here till he comes back. He is my dear friend. So I am sure he will return in time so that I will be released from prison”. Dionysius did not know how good friends can be. He laughed and told Pythias to go see his parents.
Damon waited patiently in the prison. The day that Pythias was supposed to return came. But Pythias was not there. Dionysius came and said “Now can you see, you friend tricked you! Now you are going to die!”. Damon said “No, Pythias is my friend and will never trick me. Perhaps he had some problem and got delayed. Maybe he is hurt. I wish I could go and help him. But if he does not return, I am willing to die for him”. Dionysius laughed even louder and ordered his soldiers to take Damon to the field where he was to die. While they were walking, they saw Pythias running towards them. “Dear Damon, sorry, I got delayed. Oh King, I am here, please release Damon and put me to death instead”. Dionysius was shocked. He realized how special friends and how good friends are to each other. So he let both Pythis and Damon go free and instead asked them to be his friends as well.
