Editing Damon and Pythias (section)

== Works based on the legend==
[[File:Damon and Pythias (1914) - 1.jpg|thumb|180px|right|Still from [[Universal Pictures|Universal's]] film ''Damon and Pythias'' (1914)]]
*In 1564, the material was made into a [[tragicomedy|tragicomic]] play by the English poet [[Richard Edwardes]] (''[[Damon and Pythias (play)|Damon and Pythias]]'').
*The best-known modern treatment of the legend is the [[German language|German]] ballad ''[[Die Bürgschaft]]'',<ref>{{in lang|de}} [http://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Die_B%C3%BCrgschaft Die Bürgschaft – Wikisource]. De.wikisource.org. Retrieved 2012-02-16.</ref> written in 1799 by [[Friedrich Schiller]], based on the ''[[Gesta Romanorum]]'' version. (In this work, Damon is sentenced to death, not Pythias.)
*In 1821, the Irish poet [[John Banim]] wrote a play based on the legend (''[[Damon and Pythias (1821 play)|Damon and Pythias]]''). Familiarity with this play led [[Justus H. Rathbone]] to found the fraternal order [[Knights of Pythias]].
*In 1914 in the United States, [[Universal Pictures]] produced and released the film ''Damon and Pythias'' starring [[William Worthington (actor)|William Worthington]] and [[Herbert Rawlinson]] in the title roles.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/universalweekly100movi/page/n87/mode/2up "'Damon and Pythias', Greatest Film Ever Made in America"], ''Universal Weekly'', 23 December 1914, pp. 4-5, 8. [[Internet Archive]], San Francisco. Retrieved 12 October 2021.</ref>
*In 1915, the book ''[[The Story of Damon and Pythias]]'' by [[Albert Payson Terhune]] was published. It was "adapted and illustrated from the photo-play conceived and produced by [[Universal Pictures|The Universal Film Manufacturing Company]]",<ref>{{cite book|last1=Terhune|first1=Albert Payson|title=The Story of Damon and Pythias|url=https://archive.org/details/storydamonandpy00compgoog|date=1915|publisher=Grosset and Dunlap Publishers}}</ref> referring to the 1914 film<ref name="IMDB">{{IMDb title|qid=Q3701330|title=Damon and Pythias (1914)}}</ref> starring [[William Worthington (actor)|William Worthington]] and [[Herbert Rawlinson]]. This book, like the German ballad, casts Damon as the condemned and the one who must return in time to save Pythias.
*In 1925, William Faulkner published ''Damon and Pythias Unlimited''<ref>"Damon and Pythias Unlimited," in ''New Orleans Sketches,'' ed. Carvel Collins, Rutgers University Press, 1958; reprinted 2002, 2009 by University Press of Mississippi, pp. 19-27.</ref> in the New Orleans ''Double Dealer,'' one of several "sketches" he wrote for the paper when he moved there.<ref>''New Orleans Sketches,'' ed. Carvel Collins, Rutgers University Press, 1958; reprinted 2002, 2009 by University Press of Mississippi, pp. xi-xxxv.</ref>
*In Japan, the 1940 short story "[[Run, Melos!]]" by [[Osamu Dazai]] and an earlier nursery tale by [[Miekichi Suzuki]] are based on the legend, as is a 1992 [[anime]] produced by Toei Company, Ltd.
*The short story "Pythias" by [[Frederik Pohl]], published in 1955, entwines the mythic elements with modern political and psychokinetic concerns.
*The film ''[[The Delicate Delinquent]]'' (1957) features characters "Mike Damon" ([[Darren McGavin]], but imagined for [[Dean Martin]]) and "Sidney Pythias" ([[Jerry Lewis]]). As released, the film only vaguely resembles the legend&nbsp;— Pythias avoids jail&nbsp;— but intends instead to be a testament to the [[Martin and Lewis]] friendship.
*In a 1959 ''[[Leave It to Beaver]]'' episode, Beaver's father relates the Damon and Pythias story and Beaver donates his homework to friend Larry to prove their friendship.  Larry confesses moments before Beaver loses a week of recesses.
*The 1962 MGM film ''[[Damon and Pythias (1962 film)|Damon and Pythias]]'' remains true to the ancient story; it stars [[Guy Williams (actor)|Guy Williams]] as Damon and Don Burnett as Pythias.
* The 1966 adventure film ''Adventure in Kigan Castle'', which was adapted loosely from "Run, Melos!", has Osumi ([[Toshiro Mifune]]), a soldier of fortune, promise to deliver holy manuscripts from Gandhara while Ensai, a monk who freed him from slavery at the beginning of the film, offers to be executed in his place. Osumi succeeds and the king calls off the execution when he sees how selfless the man is. 
*The [[DreamWorks Animation|Dreamworks]] animated film ''[[Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas]]'' (2003) features the title character going on a journey to find a treasure, while his best friend remains behind in [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] to be executed in his place should he fail to return; he comes back and both are saved.
*The story is reproduced in an episode of the animated series ''[[Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend]]''.