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King Midas and his Golden Touch | Story Summary | Neb English Notes
King Midas and his Golden Touch
ABOUT THE STORY
King Midas and his Golden Touch
King Midas is famous for two things: being given the ears of a donkey and turning everything he touches into gold. The latter of these was his reward from God Dionysus, though he soon realised that his gift was a curse rather than a blessing, and he could not even do simple things such as drink water without it turning into gold. Curiously, like many other classic myths, it may have originated as an origin story to explain the rich gold deposits in the Pactolus River.
Let’s dig deeper into the story of King Midas and his ‘golden touch’ by summarising the story in a detailed way before we offer an analysis of the myth’s meaning, origins, and themes.
SHORT SUMMARY
King Midas and his Golden Touch
Once upon a time, there was a mythical king named Midas of Phrygia, a kingdom in the western central part of Anatolia (now in modern Turkey). How he came to achieve his famous 'Midas touch' or 'golden touch' varies, but this is probably the most common version, told by the Roman poet Ovid in his long poem Metamorphoses.
Silenus, a man travelling as the attendant of the god Dionysus, strayed from his party and fell asleep in the mountains of Phrygia (Midas' Kingdom). When the farmers found this foreigner sleeping on the ground, they bound him with chains and immediately brought him before their king, Midas.
Midas recognised Silenus as a disciple of Dionysus, treated his guest quite well, and later travelled with him when Silenus rejoined Dionysus. Dionysus became thankful to Midas for returning Silenus and offered to grant King Midas any wish.
Midas, like many other kings, wanted to be rich—or rather, wealthy. Rich beyond all imagination. So he asked God Dionysus to grant this wish: that anything Midas touched would turn into gold.
The god Dionysus kept his promise and granted Midas his wish, but the King would soon discover the mistakes in his idea of gold. Whenever he touched food meant to be eaten, it immediately turned to gold, becoming inedible. Even the wine, as soon as Midas raised it to his lips, turned into gold. His adorable little daughter, Marigold, came running to her father. Midas took her up in his arms with an intensity of glee, forgetting his blessing. But alas! There was a statue of gold in his lap. The Princess was no more than earlier Marigold. Now Midas needed Marigold, not gold. He was shedding bitter tears.
Realising what a mistake he had made, Midas begged Dionysus to undo his wish, but the gods could not easily recall their gifts, so it was easy to do. However, Dionysus told Midas to go to the spring at the source of the Pactolus River and wash his hands. (It is an actual river near the Aegean coast of Turkey, now named Sart Çayı.)
Anyway, Midas did as Dionysus suggested, and through washing in the waters of Pactolus, he was certainly cured of his plight.
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