Dionysius I of Syracuse

Pythias”, a tyrant called Dionysius ruled Syracuse. He was not popular with the people because of his unjust cruelty. When Pythias asked for leave for a few days before his execution, the tyrant didn’t trust him. “Dionysius, the hardhearted tyrant...would not allow him to leave unless he left behind him a hostage, someone who would be put to death in his place...” (Russell, 1230). His close friend, Damon,a accepted to be the hostage. While waiting for Pythias’ return, Dionysius frightened Damon about

I believe that the story “Two Friends” has presented friendship more realistically than “Damon and Pythias”. The reason I believe this is because “Damon and Pythias” is a Greek legend. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term “legend” is defined as “A traditional story sometimes popularly regarded as historical but not authenticated.”(oxforddictionaries.com). This definition suggests that the story is not authenticated, which means it may contain false and made up contents. This is contrary

In 467 BC Syracuse would win its freedom from tyrannical rule and become a democratic society. Most Greek states, seeing that this was possible, quickly followed suit. By 404 BC, at the end of the Peloponnesian war, Athens no longer had any influence on the island. (For more information on this war read Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War). Later, Carthage, being allied to the Persian Empire, invaded Sicily on two specific occasions in the fifth century during the Peloponnesian war. The

Dionysius was then at the height of his power and prestige in Sicily for having freed the Greeks there from the threat of Carthaginian overlordship. Plato became better friends with Dion, however, and Dionysius's rather callous treatment of his Athenian guest

strongest, most loyal friendship in all of Syracuse. The tone in this story would have to be awestruck. I say it’s awestruck because it shows it when it says, “In reply, however, Damon merely smiled, since, in spite of the fact that the eleventh hour had already arrived, he still believed that his lifelong companion would not fail him. Even when, a short time later, he was actually led out to the site of his execution, his serenity remained the same” (Russell 70). I felt awestruck describes this passage

friends with the powerful and well known “Dionysius”. Dionysius gained very high ranks in the army and was a large figure in the turning of Syracuse into the most powerful Greek city. Dionysius was a very proud man who did not like to be questioned or proven wrong by any means (O’Conner). He and Plato began discussing philosophy. Plato found himself questioning a flaw in Dionysius’s thinking. At this point Plato’s life was said to be in danger! Dionysius sold Plato as a slave in Aegina. (Havelock

Some of the most famous philosophies came from the ancient times. These popular philosophies include, “the unexamined life is not worth living,” or “I think therefore I am.” What is most common between these ancient phrases is the people who wrote them. In fact, some of the most famous philosophers lived in the same city around the same time, and even interacted with each other. The main three philosophers of these times were Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato. While they are all prominent in their own

Famous Ancient Greek philosophers: Socrates and Plato The human mind has always been puzzled with basic questions such as: who am I? Where the universe come from, and what is its purpose? How can I be happy? Greek philosophers who were” seekers and lovers of wisdom” tried to approach these life’s big questions sometimes in a scientific way, other times in mystic ways, but always imaginatively. Among them, we remember: Pythagoras of Samos, who was viewed as a charlatan because he believed in the doctrine

Dante's Inferno is just one of three parts of an epic poem, written by Italian politician Dante Alighieri, known as The Divine Comedy. The Divine Comedy's three parts are known as Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradisio. This poem describes Dante's journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. The Divine Comedy was written in the fourteenth century in Florence during a time of tremendous political corruption. Alighieri includes these politicians in his book and describes the punishments they receive in

life, which was under the oligarchical rule of the Thirty Tyrants and the restored democracy, seem to have forced him to give up any ambitions of political life. In 388 BC he journeyed to Italy and Sicily, where he became the friend of Dionysius the ruler of Syracuse, and his brother-in-law Dion. The following year he returned to Athens, where he devoted his