The Power of Friendship

In the kingdom of Syracuse, Sicily there was a tyrant or king named Dionysius. He was extremely cruel and wicked. In spite of his great power, Dionysius had no friends. He was a lonely man, suspicious of everybody.

            A group of men who realized that many of the acts of the king was unjust and unwise. One of them is Damon. He was courageous enough to speak publicly against the cruelty of the tyrant. When Dionysius learn about it, he ordered to put Damon in to dungeon. Damon was sentence to die.

            He bravely accepted his death, but he wanted to see his family before he died. He begged permission, but he wanted to see his family and bid them good-bye. Dionysius laughed, “ If I give you permission, what guarantee do I have that you will not escape? I give no prisoner of mine a chance to save himself.”

            “ I know that,” Damon answered, “ but I have a friend Pythias. He is willing to take my place until I return.”

            Dionysius was astounded. “Does Pythias realize that, if you do not return, he must die in your place?” Pythias accepted this terms. Friendship between the two was so strong that Pythias felt it an honor to suffer death in place of Damon. Dionysius granted Damon six hour, Dionysius descended into the prison to see Pythias die. He ridiculed Pythias for trusting his friend. Then he ordered the executioners to delay no longer the execution.

            At this very moment, Damon,breathless and mud-stained, dashed into the prison. He embraced his friend and explained that his horse became exhausted and died. He had to find another horse to continue his journey. Now he was ready to die, happy because he had been able to bid farewell to his family and return in time to save his friend's life.

            Dionysius was amazed. Never in his life he had seen such loyalty. Never he had imagined that a man would be willing to die that his friend might live. He was filled with great warmth and compassion. Now he knew that true friendship was more precious that his power and wealth. The proud tyrant walked over to the friends and embraced them. Humbly, he begged them to make him their friend. Damon and Pythias and Dionysius walked out of the darkness of the prison into the sunlight together.