Editing Midas (section)

=== Golden Touch ===
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One day, as [[Ovid]] relates in ''[[Metamorphoses (poem)|Metamorphoses]]'' XI,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theoi.com/Text/OvidMetamorphoses11.html|title=OVID, METAMORPHOSES 11 - Theoi Classical Texts Library|website=www.theoi.com}}</ref> [[Dionysus]] found that his old schoolmaster and foster father, the [[satyr]] [[Silenus]], was missing.<ref>This myth appears in a fragment of [[Aristotle]], ''Eudemus'', (fr.6); [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] was aware that Midas mixed water with wine to capture Silenus (''Description of Greece'' 1.4.1); a muddled version is recounted in [[Flavius Philostratus]]' ''Life of Apollonius of Tyana'', vi.27: "Midas himself had some of the blood of [[satyr]]s in his veins, as was clear from the shape of his ears; and a satyr once, trespassing on his kinship with Midas, made merry at the expense of his ears, not only singing about them, but piping about them. Well, Midas, I understand, had heard from his mother that when a satyr is overcome by wine he falls asleep, and at such times comes to his senses and will make friends with you; so he mixed wine which he had in his palace in a fountain and let the satyr get at it, and the latter drank it up and was overcome".</ref> The old satyr had been drinking wine and wandered away drunk, to be found by some Phrygian [[peasant]]s who carried him to their king, Midas (alternatively, Silenus passed out in Midas' rose garden). Midas recognized him and treated him hospitably, entertaining him for ten days and nights with politeness, while Silenus delighted Midas and his friends with stories and songs.<ref>[[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]], ''Varia Historia'' iii.18 relates some of Silenus' accounts (Graves 1960:83.b.3).</ref> On the eleventh day, he took Silenus back to Dionysus in [[Lydia]]. Dionysus offered Midas his choice of whatever reward he wished for. Midas asked that whatever he might touch should be changed into [[gold]].

Midas rejoiced in his new power, which he hastened to put to the test. He touches an oak twig and a stone; both turned to gold. Overjoyed, as soon as he got home, he touched every rose in the rose garden, and all became gold. He ordered the servants to set a feast on the table. Upon discovering how even the food and drink turned into gold in his hands, he regretted his wish and cursed it. [[Claudian]] states in his ''In Rufinum'': "So Midas, king of Lydia, swelled at first with pride when he found he could transform everything he touched to gold; but when he beheld his food grow rigid and his drink harden into golden ice then he understood that this gift was a bane and in his loathing for gold, cursed his prayer."<ref>Claudian, ''In Rufinum'': "sic rex ad prima tumebat Maeonius, pulchro cum verteret omnia tactu; sed postquam riguisse dapes fulvamque revinctos in glaciem vidit latices, tum munus acerbum sensit et inviso votum damnavit in auro."</ref>

In a version told by [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]] in ''[[A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys]]'' (1852), Midas' daughter came to him, upset about the roses that had lost their fragrance and become hard, and when he reached out to comfort her, he found that when he touched his daughter, she turned to gold as well. Now, Midas hated the gift he had coveted. He prayed to Dionysus, begging to be delivered from starvation. Dionysus heard his prayer, and consented; telling Midas to wash in the river [[Pactolus]]. Then, whatever he put into the water would be reversed of the touch.

Midas did so, and when he touched the waters, the power flowed into the river, and the river sands turned into gold. This explained why the [[Pactolus|river Pactolus]] was so rich in gold and [[electrum]], and the wealth of the dynasty of [[Alyattes of Lydia]] claiming Midas as its forefather no doubt the impetus for this [[origin myth]]. Gold was perhaps not the only metallic source of Midas' riches: "King Midas, a Phrygian, son of [[Cybele]], first discovered black and white lead".<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' 274</ref>

However, according to [[Aristotle]], legend held that Midas eventually died of starvation as a result of his "vain prayer" for the gold touch, the curse never being lifted.<ref>[[Aristotle]], ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0058%3Abook%3D1%3Asection%3D1257b 1.1257b]</ref>