The Midas Touch
An ancient Greek myth about the dangers of easy wealth.
The ‘Midas Touch’ is the ability to make a success of anything to which you turn your hand, but the original myth carries a warning.
THE story goes that the god Dionysius could not find his old friend Silenus, the satyr, who had drunk too much wine and wandered into the palace gardens of Midas, King of Phrygia.
When Dionysius learnt with how much affection Midas had treated his missing friend, he was so grateful that he invited the King to name his own reward. Midas asked that anything he touched should turn to gold, and the god complied.
The greedy king’s delight did not last long after the moment when he discovered that ‘anything’ included his food.
A starving Midas soon implored Dionysius to take back his gift.
For his cure, the god told him to bathe in the river Pactolus - the very same river in which, centuries later, the fabulously wealthy Croesus* found his endless supply of gold.
Midas of Phrygia is a confusing mix of legend and history, but Croesus of neighbouring Lydia was a genuinely historical king (r. 560-546) who made his wealth from gold coins.
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Midas looked after Silenus. Dionysius was grateful. He told Midas to name his reward.