A true friend of the classics (5)
I believe the answer is:
damon
'a true friend' is the definition.
'damon' can be an answer for 'friend' (I have seen 'faithful friend' mean 'damon' so perhaps 'friend' could also mean 'damon'). I am not certain of the 'a true' bit.
'of the classics' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'damn' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for damon that I've seen before include "faithful friend" , "Writer Runyon's first name" , "Pythias's friend" , "Matt --, US actor" .)