Damon and Pythias

Still from the American film Damon and Pythias (1914) with William Worthington (Damon), Frank Lloyd (Dionysius), and Herbert Rawlinson (Pythias).

The legend of Damon and Pythias (Damonem and Phintiam) is an ancient Greek story about a test of Pythagorean morality and the bonds of friendship, as related in the writings of Aristoxenus of Tarentum, Marcus Tullius Cicero, Diodorus of Sicily, and others, and later adapted in the poetic and for the stage, most famously by Richard Edwardes, Friedrich Schiller, and John Banim, the latter's effort inspiring the ritual of the Knights of Pythias. The original telling casts Pythias as a man condemned to death by Dionysius of Syracuse, but who is freed to finalise his affairs on condition that his friend, Damon, be held in place, to be killed if Pythias does not return; when Pythias returns, as promised (and in spite of obstacles), Dionysius sets the pair free, impressed by their high moral character.

Reading

Ancient Sources

• Cicero, Marcus Tullius; Miller, Walter (1913), "Damon and Phintias", De Officiis, with an English Translation by Walter Miller, New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, p. 313, https://archive.org/stream/deofficiiswithen00ciceuoft#page/312/mode/2up 
• Siculus, Diodorus; Booth, G. (1814), "The Fragments of Diodorus Siculus, No. 37", The Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian, in Fifteen Books, II, London: J. Davis, p. 576, https://archive.org/stream/historicallibra00diodgoog#page/n570/mode/2up 

Later Retellings

• Edwardes, Richard (1908), Farmer, John S., ed., Damon and Pithias, London & Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack, https://archive.org/details/damonandpithias100edwauoft  [orig. 1571]
• Banim, John (1860), Damon and Pythias, a Play in Five Acts, New York: W. A. Moore, C. S. Bernard, et al., https://archive.org/details/damonandpythias00banigoog  [orig. 1821]
• Shiel, Richard (1829), Damon and Pythias, a Play in Five Acts, Philadelphia: Neal & Mackenzie, https://archive.org/details/damonpythiasplay00bani 
• Hill, Laban M.; Bates, James Edward (1878), The Story of Damon and Pythias, Boston: Alfred Mudge & Son, https://archive.org/details/storyofdamonpyth00hill 
• Morrison, A. Cressy (1890), A Story: Damon and Pythias. A Souvenir to the Knights of Pythias of the World., https://archive.org/details/damonpythias00morr 
• Terhune, Albert Payson (1915), The Story of Damon and Pythias, New York: Grosset and Dunlap, https://archive.org/details/storydamonandpy00compgoog 

Films

• Turner, Otis (Director) (1914). Damon and Pythias (Motion picture). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0003816/
• Bernhardt, Curtis (Director) (1962). Il Tiranno di Siracusa [Damon and Pythias] (Motion picture). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055885/