King Midas and His Golden Touch: A Myth of Riches & Regret

SUMMARY

• King Midas of Phrygia, a figure from Greek mythology, was granted the ability to turn everything he touched into gold, which initially brought him joy but soon became a curse as it prevented him from eating or drinking.
• After pleading with Dionysus, Midas was instructed to wash in the river Pactolus, lifting the curse and symbolizing the folly of his greed. The legend emphasizes the dangers of excessive greed and the realization that true happiness cannot be achieved through material wealth alone.
• In a separate myth, Midas was given the ears of an ass by Apollo as punishment for his arrogance, highlighting the theme of hubris.

King Midas of Phrygia is one of the paradoxical figures of Greek mythology. Celebrated for his unparalleled wealth, he simultaneously faces mockery for his arrogance and perceived effeminacy. In his most famous myth, Midas is granted his wish to turn everything he touches into gold, a wish which soon turns into a curse with grave consequences. The tale is, without a doubt, a cautionary one, highlighting the perils of greed. In another story, he commits a hubris that is punished with donkey ears. Dive into the intriguing story of Midas, a king overwhelmed by his golden grasp.

Midas was a mythical king of Phrygia and the son of Gordias and the goddess Cybele. According to Pausanias, he founded the city of Ankara, the capital of present-day Turkey. Depending on the source, Midas had either a son named Anchurus or the bloodthirsty Lytyerses. Some ancient authors claimed that he committed suicide by drinking the blood of an ox, while Aristotle wrote that he died of starvation as he could not eat due to his golden touch (this myth is discussed in detail in the next sections). In Greek art, he is often seen with the ears of a faun or an ass (a trait known as Midas ears).

King Midas of the legend should not be confused with another, historical Midas or Mita who lived during the 8th century and also ruled Phrygia. This Midas was said to have married a Greek (Aeolian) princess named Damodice, to whom Aristotle attributed the invention of coinage. Assyrian sources also record attacks by a king named Mita during the time of king Sargon II. According to Herodotus’ testimony, Midas was the first foreign king to send offerings to the sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi. There is also a tomb in the city of Gordium called Mida’s tomb but it is doubtful that it really belonged to a king bearing the name of Midas.

The Myth of the Golden Touch of Midas (The Full Story)

In the most popular myth involving Midas the king is cursed with the golden touch. The story involves a rustic god, Silenus, the foster father and mentor of Dionysus who also plays a part in the story. The myth presented here will follow the version presented in Ovid’s Metamorphoses (11.85-145)

Silenus was a god known for drinking wine until passing out. He loved to drink, dance, sing, and sleep. According to Ovid, in one of his travels as a companion of the god Dionysus, Silenus drifted away and was captured by the men of Midas.

In another version of the story, Midas specifically set out to lure Silenus to his palace either by filling a spring with wine or by creating a wine fountain. Silenus was successfully lured, and Midas captured him as soon as the god fell asleep.

In any case, Silenus ended up in the palace of Midas, who treated the god as an honored guest. Interestingly, as Midas was already initiated in the mystic rites of Dionysus, he had met Silenus before, and Ovid even says that they were old friends. It is no wonder, then, that to please him, Midas threw a great party that lasted for eleven days.

Midas Returns Silenus to Dionysus and Makes a Wish

Once the party was over, Midas brought Silenus back to Dionysus, who was extremely worried about his favorite companion. To show his gratitude to Midas for treating Silenus well, Dionysus offered the king one wish. Blinded by greed, the king said the following words:

“Cause whatsoever I shall touch to change at once to yellow gold.”

Dionysus granted the wish knowing that it would not lead to anything good. As Midas walked away joyfully, Dionysus was saddened because he could see the misfortunes that would befall the king.

Midas Has a Golden Touch

Midas immediately began testing his new power, although at first, he was hesitant. He pulled a twig from a holm oak, and to his own surprise, the twig turned to gold.

He then lifted a stone, and this turned to gold, too. Next were a clod, some grain, wheat, and some apples. Everything turned to gold. When he returned to his palace, Midas found out that he was leaving golden door handles behind him.

The first problem appeared when he tried to wash his hands and the water turned into a golden rain. However, the king did not realize the implications of his wish until he had to eat. Bread, meat, wine, and even water turned to gold as soon as they came into contact with his hands or mouth. In some modern retellings of the myth, Midas unwillingly even turns one of his daughters into a golden statue.

The golden blessing had turned into a golden curse as Midas began suffering from hunger and thirst. He prayed to Dionysus, asking for his wish to be reversed:

“Oh pardon me, father Lenaeus [a name for Dionysus]!
I have done wrong, but pity me, I pray,
and save me from this curse that looked so fair.”

Dionysus felt pity for the king and helped him:

“That you may not be always cased in gold,
which you unhappily desired, depart
to the stream that flows by that great town of Sardis
and upward trace its waters, as they glide
past Lydian heights, until you find their source.
Then, where the spring leaps out from mountain rock,
plunge head and body in the snowy foam.
At once the flood will take away your curse.”

King Midas acted accordingly and bathed in the river’s waters. As the curse lifted, the river was filled with gold. Midas was finally free. The river where Midas washed away the curse was the river Pactolus known in antiquity for its golden reserves.

The Myth of King Midas and the Donkey Ears

In another story, King Midas abandoned his kingdom and material wealth after the curse of his golden touch was lifted to become a follower of the god Pan or, according to other ancient sources, the satyr Marsyas. Together they traveled to Mount Tmolus. There, Pan played his music for the nymphs of the forest and proclaimed its superiority over the music of Apollo. Word soon reached Apollo, who challenged Pan to a contest with Mount Tmolus as the judge.

Pan played some rustic sounds with his aulos (pipe), followed by the sound of Apollo’s lyre. For Tmolus, it was crystal clear that Apollo’s music was superior, and everyone in the crowd agreed. Everyone except for Pan’s devout follower Midas. Midas openly questioned Tmolus’ judgment. However, this, a mortal judging a god, was hubris and could not be tolerated. Apollo decided to punish the mortal by replacing the human ears that had misled him with the ears of a donkey.

Midas, ashamed of his ears, lived his life hiding them under a purple turban. He was careful not to let anyone know his secret, but there was one man who knew: Midas’ hairdresser. Of course, Midas had sworn the man to secrecy. Besides, the hairdresser himself did not want to betray the secret. However, he felt that the secret was too much to bear. He had to tell it to someone or at least say it out loud. So he went to the forest, dug a hole, and whispered in the hollow earth: “Midas has an ass’s ears”. He then buried the whisper and left. From the hole, a grove grew, which finally told the secret to a wind that carried the words to a nearby city. Before long, everyone knew that Midas had the ears of donkey.

The story of Midas’ touch has a rather clear didactic message. Midas is the richest man alive, but he is greedy and seeks to become even richer. What he asks from Dionysus demonstrates his arrogance and obsession with excessive material wealth.

But why does this Greek didactic message involves a Phrygian king? Why not a Greek? The Greeks thought that one of their differences with the peoples of the East was their love for balance and measure. For the Greeks, the eastern kingdoms sought excessiveness in the form of wealth. Maybe by having an arrogant and, beyond imagination, wealthy Eastern king being humiliated again and again, the Greeks affirmed their own way of life and values. Through stories like that of Midas, the Greeks defined their own identity and sought to assert their intellectual superiority.

In the myth, Midas gets what he wants, only to find out that there are things more important than gold in life and that material possessions alone cannot bring happiness. Besides, gold’s value is not inherent, and possessing gold is not as fulfilling as the things that gold can buy. That is exactly why, at the end of the myth, Midas leaves everything, including his wealth and kingdom, to travel the world with Pan and experience the aspects of life that cannot be bought. This is a concept that is found elsewhere, too, in Greek culture. In another legend presented by Herodotus, King Croesus of Lydia showed Solon (one of the seven sages of Greece) around his palace, showcasing his extraordinary wealth. Then he asked Solon who was the happiest man in the world. Solon told Croesus that one’s life cannot be judged before its end because the whims of fortune are unpredictable. Then the wise man presented the life and death of three men, proclaiming them happier than Croesus.

Returning to Midas’ myth, let’s also not forget that the god who grants Midas his golden touch is Dionysus, the god of wine and revelry, madness, and intoxication. Dionysus is a god who brings happiness through the ecstatic pleasure of drinking vividly represented by Silenus, who loves wine and sleep.

Interestingly, in a version of the story quoted in Plutarch, when Midas captured Silenus, he asked him what is the best thing that a human can achieve. Silenus refused to answer but Midas insisted until the god finally replied the following:

“Ephemeral offspring of a travailing genius and of harsh fortune, why do you force me to speak what it were better for you men not to know?

For a life spent in ignorance of one’s own woes is most free from grief. But for men it is utterly impossible that they should obtain the best thing of all, or even have any share in its nature (for the best thing for all men and women is not to be born); however, the next best thing to this, and the first of those to which man can attain, but nevertheless only the second best, is, after being born, to die as quickly as possible.”

This antinatalist philosophy behind Silenus’ response uncovers another aspect of Midas’ myth. Midas is following a ‘pragmatic’ lifestyle, seeking to increase his material possessions. However, this is a vain pursuit. For Silenus, nothing can bring or buy happiness. No matter how rich, all humans are doomed to suffer. More riches will only lead a human to discover new ways of suffering, just as Midas did.