The Mortality of Greek Myths-Reflection #6

Spinx

The Greek myth I preformed was the story of Damon and Pythias.  The story was about two loyal, devoted friends named Damon and Pythias.  One day the tyrant king had a dream that Pythias was trying to overthrow him so he sentenced him to death.  However Pythias asked if he could go and settle his affairs and the king agreed but only if he left someone in his place who would be killed if he didn’t return.  Pythias asked Damon to take his place and he accepted right away.  Even though Pythias was delayed in his return, he was still able to make it at the last moment to save his friend’s life. 

Along with being a good story, this Greek myth also presents life morals, answers, and virtues.  A moral that I found that was illustrated in this myth is a moral that came from one of Aesop’s fable. It states that “we must make friends in prosperity if we would have their help in adversity”.  This was seen in Damon and Pythias’s friendship because they already trusted each other completely and were loyal to their friendship before hardships came around.  When a conflict did show up they already had the trust and loyalty needed to help each other over come it.  If they had not had such a strong friendship prior to the death sentence, the story would not have had a happy ending.  The life mystery that this myth attempts to answer is the key to happiness and, in a way, the purpose of life.  In the myth, Damon and Pythias are loyal friends and are shown as leading happy lives while the tyrant king who does not have friends lives unhappily.  Even though this myth does not say that the purpose of life is to have friends, they do show that having good relationships are an important part of life and make the quality of life better as well.  From this story, it can be seen that an important value for the Greek was loyalty.  In the myth, loyalty can be seen in the friendship between Damon and Pythias.  Damon was loyal to Pythias by agreeing to take his place and Pythias was loyal to Damon by returning to save his life.  It shows us the importance of loyalty in relationships for them to work and be meaningful to our lives.