Midas.
The wish that spoiled the feast
King Midas: Greek Myth of the Golden Touch and Donkey Earsis the king whose wish turns everything he touches to gold. pairs this disastrous reward with another error of judgment, when Midas prefers ’s music to ’s.
More than a myth.
How Midas gets the golden touch
welcomes and returns him to , who offers a reward. The king asks that whatever he touches become gold. Branches, stones, and ordinary objects seem to confirm an extraordinary success. Only at the meal does he recognize what the wish means: food and drink become unusable wealth.
How the curse is removed
asks to release him from the gift. The god directs him to wash in the river Pactolus, transferring the power into its waters. The narrative explains gold-bearing sand while making the king learn the difference between possessing valuable material and being able to live. ’s account does not include the familiar later scene of a daughter becoming a golden statue.
Why Midas has donkey ears
A separate episode makes object when a musical judgment favors over . Apollo gives him the ears of an ass. The servant who discovers the secret whispers it into the earth, and reeds eventually repeat it. The second story continues the theme of poor judgment while changing the consequence from a private appetite to a secret that cannot stay hidden.
Questions about Midas
Who gave Midas the golden touch?
grants the wish as a reward for ’s treatment of . He also explains how Midas can wash the power away.
Did Midas turn his daughter to gold?
That detail is familiar from later retellings. It is not part of the episode in ’s used for this profile.
It’s a family affair.
Midas
The golden touch & the judgment of musicNo children represented in this edition.
The stories of Midas.
Ancient voices.
Enduring stories.
Myths have many tellings. These are the ancient works behind this profile, linked to freely available English translations.
Metamorphoses
Book 11.85–193 · the two Midas episodes