Page 232 - SUMMARIES OF GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO’S DECAMEON : A Visionary Journey In 100 Stories And 100 Etchings By Petru Russu

Titus and Gisippus: A Tale of Loyalty
Years pass, and fortune turns against Gisippus. Stripped of wealth and status,
A DYNAMIC BLEND OF ABSTRACT
COMPLEXITY AND STRIKING
COLOR CONTRASTS SYMBOLIZES
DEEP FRIENDSHIP AND SACRIFICE.
THE FLUID FORMS REFLECT
JUSTICE AND SHIFTING FATES. restored but immortalized through family ties.
DECAMERON 230
In the Decameron’s Tenth Day, Ninth Novell, Giovanni Boccaccio offers a
stirring meditation on the sanctity of friendship and the moral courage it can
inspire. Set in the classical world of Rome and Athens, the story follows Titus
Quintius Fulvus, a Roman nobleman, and Gisippus, a Greek of equal stature,
whose bond transcends cultural boundaries and personal desires.
While studying philosophy in Athens, Titus and Gisippus become inseparable,
brothers in spirit, intellect, and affection. Their friendship is so profound
that they are said to share one soul in two bodies. When Gisippus becomes
betrothed to Sophronia, a young woman of exceptional beauty and virtue, he
proudly introduces her to Titus. But fate intervenes: Titus falls hopelessly in
love with her, tormented by guilt and loyalty.
Gisippus, sensing his friend’s anguish, confronts him with compassion
rather than judgment. In a gesture of extraordinary selflessness, he
offers Sophronia to Titus, believing that true friendship demands sacrifice.
Sophronia, though initially confused, accepts the change with grace,
trusting in Gisippus’s wisdom and Titus’s sincerity.
he journeys to Rome in search of aid. Misunderstood and desperate, he falsely
confesses to a murder. Titus, now a respected Roman citizen, recognizes his
old friend and, without hesitation, claims guilt for the crime to save him. This
act of loyalty stuns the court. The real murderer, moved by Titus’s nobility,
confesses, and Emperor Octavianus pardons all three men.
In a final act of gratitude and love, Titus offers Gisippus his sister in
marriage and shares his wealth, ensuring that their friendship is not only
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