Pythias Character Analysis in The Golden Ass

Pythias was a school friend of Lucius who happens to run into him in Hypata while he’s staying with Milo. Pythias is the first to call Lucius by name, and though the two are happy to see each other, Lucius is less happy when Pythias ruins some fish that Lucius bought in order to make a point to a shopkeeper. The brief appearance of Pythias is comic and helps to establish some of Lucius’s background.

Pythias Character Timeline in The Golden Ass

The timeline below shows where the character Pythias appears in The Golden Ass. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...buy, then haggles with the shopkeeper to reduce the price. Then the narrator runs into Pythias, who used to be a fellow student with the narrator back in Athens. Pythias greets... (full context)

Pythias sees the fish Lucius has bought and asks how much he paid for everything. Lucius... (full context)