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Midas
Columbia Encyclopedia entry: Midas
Midasmī'dəs, in Greek mythology, king of Phrygia. Because he befriended Silenus, the oldest of the satyrs, Dionysus granted him the power to turn everything into gold by touch. But when even the food that he touched turned to gold, Midas begged to be relieved of his gift. Dionysus allowed him to wash away his power in the Pactolus River, which afterward had gold-bearing sands. In another legend Midas was given ass's ears by Apollo for preferring, in a contest, the music of Pan (in another account Marsyas) to that of Apollo. Midas preserved his shame from all but his barber, who, wishing to tell it, whispered it into a hole in the ground. The reeds that grew out of that hole, however, murmured the secret whenever the wind blew through them. There was also a historical king of Phrygia named Midas in the 8th cent. B.C.

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Wikipedia search results for: Midas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the legend of Gordias, a poor countryman who was taken by the people and made King, in obedience to the command of the oracle, see Gordias. Midas or King Midas is popularly remembered for his ability to turn everything he touched into gold: the Midas touch. He bears some relation to the historical Mita, king of the Mushki in Western Anatolia in the later 8th century BC. Midas was king of Pessinus, a city of Phrygia, who as a child was adopted by the king Gordias and Cybele, the goddess whose consort he was, and who was the goddess-mother of Midas himself. Some accounts place the youth of Midas in Macedonian Bermion...more »
Columbia Encyclopedia search results: Midas
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  • Heiberg, Gunnar Edvard Rode

    Heiberg, Gunnar Edvard Rode, 1857–1929, Norwegian dramatist. His plays include Aunt Ulrikke (1883), The Balcony (1894, tr. 1922), and King Midas (1890), a satire on Bjørnson. The Tragedy of Lo...

  • Coninxloo, Gillis van

    Coninxloo or Koninksloo, Gillis van, 1544–1607, Flemish landscape painter. His Judgment of Midas (Dresden), Latona (Hermitage, St. Petersburg), and above all the Landscape with Figures (Liecht...

  • Phrygia

    Phrygia, ancient region, central Asia Minor (now central Turkey). The Phrygians, who settled here c.1200 B.C., came from the Balkans and apparently spoke an Indo-European language. A kingdom, ...

  • Girard, Stephen

    Girard, Stephen, 1750–1831, American merchant, banker, and philanthropist, b. Bordeaux, France. Girard went to sea and at the age of 23 was a captain. In 1776 he settled in Philadelphia as a s...

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