The Midas Touch
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0Turning everything you touch into gold seems like an amazing ability until you stop and consider that you turn everything you touch into gold. Sure you could win or at least tie for first in all the games and sports you’d compete in, but you wouldn’t even be able to re-hydrate afterward without choking on gold dust. Gatorade is crappy enough without it changing into precious metals as it touches your lips.
King Midas has been for a potent symbol of the danger inherent in greed for a very long time. The complete story may not be known to everyone, but the general idea that whatever this man touched turned to gold and its terrible consequences is well known, especially in western cultures. So just how did Midas acquire his golden touch?
The myths say that Midas was a very wealthy and powerful king in the ancient world. One day, a group of peasants happened upon the drunken form of an old satyr named Silenus, one of the wine god Dionysus’s companions and his tutor. The peasants, not knowing what else to do with the strange man they’d found, brought him to Midas’s palace. The King, being a knowledgeable and worldly man, (said to have been taught by Orpheus himself, in some versions of the myth) recognized the Satyr at once and treated him with hospitality and grace, taking great care of this important figure. Silenus, in return, entertained Midas’s court with stories and songs and enjoyed ten full days of feasting and revelry with the King. On the 11th day, Midas brought Silenus back to Dionysus and, for being such a kind and gracious host to his friend, Dionysus offered the king anything he wished for.
Midas, at once, wished for the ability to turn anything he touched into gold and Dionysus consented.
On the road home, Midas was delighted when he touched a twig and it turned into precious gold. He was dazzled every time his hands changed some mundane object into something beautiful and valuable. He was joyful all the way home and, upon arriving, ordered his servants to whip up an incredible feast to celebrate this wonderful gift. The servants spared no expense, laying out a lavish spread across many tables, a feast that made Midas smile all the more. But Midas’s smile didn’t last for long. As he lifted each dish to taste it, he found its contents turned to gold. His wine froze into unmoving metal as it touched his lips. The food became hard and unyielding at his touch. Midas quickly realized the devastating mistake he’d made with his request. In some versions of the myth, he even accidentally turns his own daughter into a statue of gold with a touch before coming to this realization. In horror, he cried out to Dionysus, saying that he was wrong and wishing that the power might be taken away from him. Dionysus, being a good-natured deity, is touched by Midas’s confession and fulfills his request. Midas is told that he must go to the river Pactolus and wash his hands there to cleanse himself of the power.
As he dips his hands into the cool running stream, the King sees his curse washed away. Gold settles into the river sands. It was said this was the reason for this famous river yielding so much gold.
After these events, Midas decided to give up wealth, being disgusted with the whole affair. He became a follower of Pan and lived in the countryside, where he thought he would be happy, but there is another tale of misfortune in poor Midas’s life as a result of that choice as well.
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Discussion (12) ¬
There are other things i’d be more concerned with turning into gold… man things.
I thought it was just his hands that do it: so he could just drink stuff with a straw and be careful with forks, right?
Also, when everyone wins gold, no one really does.
Nah, it mentions in the story he tries using a fork to eat his food but as soon as it touches his lips it turns to gold, so it’d stand to reason water would turn to gold dust etc
Or liquid gold… which would be… hot?
Oh, there have been worse superpowers to have…
to me this story is about taking a silly idea to its logical conclusion, but it doesn’t go far enough. you’d think his clothes would turn to gold the minute he got the gold-turning ability, and what about the dead tissue on his body? or the air against his skin or in his lungs? maybe if he’d asked one of the meaner gods for this ability the story would have ended there with him immediately forming a gold exoskeleton and turning to solid gold cell by cell as suffocation set in.
It is worth noting also that, to my knowledge, people were superstitious and ignorant of the world around them during this time, and so even the most wild and outrageous explanation for simple, mundane events would have been acceptable.
With this in mind, I believe that especially common folk (particularly non-scholars) would not have thought to include his own clothing, and as for dead tissue or air, I may be wrong, but I don’t believe air was considered as a tangible thing, more of an absence of matter existing, and I don’t suspect any concept of “dander” or loss of skin cells would have been noticed.
In any case, if there is truth to this tale (I am uncertain if there is, I admit I have not researched it) I suspect it has been buried in allegory. This is a tale told to illustrate a point, with many an embellishment to make the retelling fanciful and help the lesson to stick in the mind. And it has obviously worked, as we are still discussing it even centuries later, which is what I find most fascinating.
I think you overstate things. People would definitely realize, whatever era they were in, that his clothes are touching him. Air was certainly concieved as a form/class of matter, along side Fire, Water and Earth.
Why then wasn’t the Earth beneath Midas turned [or at least his shoes]? Probably the same reason the Flash doesn’t explode from Friction when he runs or Superman doesn’t burn his eyelids blinking.
Narrative glazing over superpowers is an old hat and still around. Even stuff that takes things to their logical conclusion will look otherstuff over for the sake of a good story. It’s hard to imagine the first Poet recounting this tale ending it when Midas scratched his nose a minute later and turned himself into Gold.
King Midas keeps his clothes from turning into gold by the power of Speed Force?
Love this so much! I recently found this after visiting LOLHappens.com. This stuff is great! Keep going K!
I love how his eyebrows look like mini-crowns teehee