Pythias (Don Burnett) , a liberal Athenian who thinks all men are brothers, following the Pythagoras doctrines , but then he is imprisoned and condemned to death by Dionysus (Arnaldo Foa) , the tyrant of Syracuse . It is based on a legend in Greek historic writings illustrating the Pythagorean ideal of friendship. Pythias is accused of treason and charged with plotting against the tyrannical Dionysius I of Syracuse. Pythias requests of Dionysius to be allowed to settle his affairs . Dionysius agrees, on the condition that Pythias' friend , Damon (Guy Williams) , be held hostage and executed in his stead in case of Pythias not return . As Damon is taken as a hostage saying that he could bear the mistrust and anger of the tyrant . When Pythias returns , Dionysius is amazed by the love and trust in their friendship. Nevertheless , Dionysus affords Pythias to go back to Athens to visit his ailing wife about to give birth a baby with the understanding he will then come back to face his punishment . But Dionysius doesn't expect Pythias to keep his end of the bargain, and he'll stop at nothing to get his purports , and thus exposing the falsity of his Pythagorean beliefs .
An Italian/USA Sword and Sandals movie , this is a co-production with budget enough , but non excessive , being more an Italian production than American one . Starring two B-American actors : Guy Williams who played the popular Walt Disney's Zorro series and Don Burrnett who performed an Italian Robin Hood directed by Umberto Lenzi . Both of them give passable and acceptable acting . As Guy Williams is the hero Damon who volunteers to be a hostage to guarantee Pythias's return and Don Burnett is his good friend who fights to get his aims. They are well accompanied by a lot Italian familiar faces from Peplum sub-genre , they are the following ones : laria Occhini , Liana Orfei , Marina Berti and Arnoldo Foà . The motion picture was regular by professionally directed by Curtis Bernhardt . He was a Hollywood craftsman who worked in various Majors as Warner Bros and MGM, largely on the strength of Carrefour (1938) which proved so enduring that it was remade as Dead Man's Shoes (1940) in the UK and as Crossroads (1942). His career in Hollywood began with a false start, after working on his first assignment he fell ill and was reassigned an Olivia de Havilland vehicle, My Love Came Back (1940), that gained him good notices. Bernhardt rapidly achieved a reputation as a woman's director with occasional forays into suspense with varied results. He directed one of Humphrey Bogart's least popular films, Conflict (1945). Soon after , he moved to RKO, which was entering its final chaotic decade, directing The Blue Veil (1951), a remake of a French film. He did a one-shot gig at Columbia, directing Bogie once again in the hopelessly set-bound Sirocco (1951) .
This Il Tiranno di Siracusa (1962) was based on a greek legend : it was told by Aristoxenus, and after him Cicero , Diodorus Siculus , and others, Pythias and his friend Damon, both followers of the philosopher Pythagoras, traveled to Syracuse during the reign of the tyrannical Dionysius I (r. 405-367 BC). Pythias was accused of plotting against the tyrant and sentenced to death. Accepting his sentence, Pythias asked to be allowed to return home one last time to settle his affairs and bid his family farewell. Not wanting to be taken for a fool, the king refused, believing that, once released, Pythias would flee and never return. Damon offered himself as a hostage in Pythias' absence, and when the king insisted that, should Pythias not return by an appointed time, Damon would be executed in his stead, Damon agreed and Pythias was released. Dionysius was convinced that Pythias would never return, and as the day Pythias promised to return came and went, he called for Damon's execution-but just as the executioner was about to kill Damon, Pythias returned. Apologizing to his friend for the delay, Pythias explained that on the passage back to Syracuse, pirates had captured his ship and thrown him overboard, but that he swam to shore and made his way back to Syracuse as quickly as possible, arriving just in time to save his friend. So astonished by and pleased with their friendship, Dionysius pardoned both men. It was also said that the tyrant then sought to become their third friend, but was denied. Another version says that it was a test planned by the king and his courtiers. The Pythagoreans were renowned for their moral strength and superiority, but some Syracusan courtiers argued the claim was false, and others disagreed, so with their king they devised a test-a crisis that would show whether two Pythagoreans lived up to that reputation.
