King Midas and the Golden Touch

• King Midas, in Greek Mythology, was given the ability by Dionysus to turn anything he touched into Gold, known as the ‘Golden Touch’.
• The myth shows how avarice does not lead to happiness.

The Myth

• King Midas asks for the ‘Golden Touch’
  • King Midas had offered ten days hospitality to Dionysus'‘ old schoolmaster and adoptive father, Silenus.
  • To thank him, Dionysus offered to grant King Midas anything he should wish for, and King Midas had requested the ‘Golden touch’, that anything he touched would turn to Gold.
• Everything he touches turns to Gold
  • At first, King Midas touched a stone and a branch of oak, and they turned to Gold. He raced home and touched every rose in his garden, and marvelled as they all turned to Gold.
  • He then ordered a big feast to be prepared to celebrate his new gift.
• Food, drink and his daughter also turn to Gold
  • But, after he sat down to eat, when he touched his food and drink, they turned to Gold.
  • Worse still, when his daughter rushed into his arms, she was turned into Gold.
• King Midas begs for the ‘Golden Touch’ to be reversed
  • At this point King Midas realised his gift was a curse. He prayed to Dionysus, and asked him to reverse the Golden Touch.
  • Dionysus told King Midas to wash himself in the River Pactolus, and that anything he put into the water would be transformed back from Gold.
  • When King Midas washed himself in the River Pactolus, the Touch was reversed and the power flowing into the river transformed the sand into Gold, which explains why there was so much Gold in the River Pactolus.
• King Midas rejects all wealth
  • After this, King Midas rejected wealth and opulence, and moved to the country where he became a follower of Pan.

Tomb of King Midas

• It has been suggested that a Tomb excavated in Gordion, Yassihoyuk, Turkey, and dated to 740 BCE, belongs to either King Midas or perhaps his Father.

Source

• Ovid
  • Metamophoses XI

Tomb of King Midas, Sardis, Turkey: