11. The Ancient Roots of the Midas Legend
In ancient Greek mythology, King Midas of Phrygia helped a drunk satyr – a male nature spirit with a horse’s tail and ears – who rewarded Midas by granting him a wish. Midas’ wish to turn everything he touched into gold was granted, but it backfired on him. It made Midas fabulously wealthy, but he could not turn his newly acquired superpower on and off. All that Midas touched turned into gold, whether he wanted it to or not. That included his beloved daughter, who was killed when Midas inadvertently turned her into a golden statue by touching her. His food and drink was also turned into gold, so Midas died of thirst and starvation – although in another version of the legend, the god Dionysus lifted the curse after Midas learned his lesson.
The experience made Midas hate wealth and riches. So he left his palace and moved to the countryside, to follow the simple life as a worshipper of Pan, the god of the wild. At some point, Pan challenged the god Apollo to a musical contest, and Midas was one of the judges. All the judges and witnesses declared Apollo the winner, except Midas, who sided with Pan. An irate Apollo stated that Midas “Must have the ears of an ass!“, and promptly turned his ears into those of a donkey. Of course, such supernatural events never actually happened in real life. However, there were several real life ancient kings of Phrygia, in modern Turkey, who were named Midas.
