midas midas

(Midas, Μίδας). Son of Gordias, king of Phrygia. He cordially received Silenus, the tutor and companion of Dionysus, and Silenus invited him to ask for whatever he wanted as a reward. Midas expressed his wish that everything he touched would turn to gold. Midas's request was granted, but since the food he touched also turned into gold, Midas asked Silenus to take back his mercy. Dionysus ordered Midas to bathe in the river Pactol, which has since become abundant in gold. Subsequently, Midas was a judge in a musical contest between Apollo, who played the lyre, and Pan, who played the flute, and decided the dispute in favor of Pan. Then Apollo turned Midas' ears into donkey's, and he had to hide them under a Phrygian cap; but the barber once opened Midas' donkey ears and, not having the strength to keep a secret, which at the same time he did not dare to tell anyone, he dug a hole and, whispering into it: "King Midas has donkey ears," he covered the hole with earth. But a reed later grew up in this place, which whispered about this secret, so that it spread throughout the world.

(Source: "A Brief Dictionary of Mythology and Antiquities." M. Korsh. St. Petersburg, edition of A. S. Suvorin, 1894.)

MIDAS

(Μίδας), in Greek mythology, the son Gordia, king of Phrygia, famous for his wealth (Herodot. VIII 138). Even to the child M., ants dragged wheat grains, foreshadowing future wealth (Cicero, “On Divination” I 36). When the bound Silenus was brought to M., who had lost his way during the procession of Dionysus, the king cordially received him, talked with him, and ten days later returned Dionysus (Ael. Var. hist. Ill 18 with reference to Theopompus). Option: M. himself caught Silenus, mixing wine into the water of the source from which he drank (Paus. I 4, 5; Xenoph. Anab. I 2. 13). As a reward for the release of Silenus, Dionysus invited M. to fulfill any of his wishes. M. wished that everything he touched turned into gold. But food began to turn into gold, which threatened M. with starvation, and he prayed to God to remove the spell. Dionysus ordered M. to bathe in the source of Paktol, which made the source gold-bearing, and M. got rid of his gift.
M. was a judge in the musical competition between Apollo and Pan (option: Marsyas, Hyg. Fab. 191) and recognized Apollo defeated. Option: the judge was Tmol, who awarded the primacy to Apollo, and M. preferred Pan. For this, Apollo endowed M. with donkey ears, which the king had to hide under a Phrygian cap. The barber M., seeing the ears and tormented by a secret that he could not tell anyone, dug a hole in the ground and whispered there: “King Midas has donkey ears!” And filled the hole. In this place grew a reed that whispered the secret to the whole world (Ovid. Met. XI 85-193). Perhaps M. was originally revered as a companion of Dionysus (or Cybele, Diod. Ill 58) and the myth of donkey ears is associated with the remnants of totemism. The variant of the myth about the wealth of M. reflects the ideas of the Greeks about the golden treasures of Asia Minor.
M. H. Botvinnik.

(Source: "Myths of the peoples of the world".)

Midas

King of Phrygia, son of Gordias. As a reward for the honor given to the teacher of Dionysus Silenus, he received an unusual gift from God - everything that Midas touched turned into pure gold. Only during the feast did the king realize the fallacy of his request - all the dishes and wines became golden in his mouth. In response to a request to take away his gift, Dionysus sent Midas to the Pactol River, in the waters of which he could wash away both the gift and his guilt from the body. Since then, Pactol has become gold-bearing. Once, during a competition between Pan and Apollo in the art of music, he gave preference to Pan. In retaliation, he was rewarded with donkey ears by Apollo when the god grabbed his ears and pulled them out. Only the barber of Midas knew about donkey ears, but he, unable to stand it, dug a hole in the ground and whispered his secret there. A reed grew in this place and spread about this secret all over the world. See more about it.

// Nicolas Poussin: Midas and Bacchus // Jonathan SWIFT: The Fable of Midas // N.A. Kuhn: MIDAS

(Source: "Myths of Ancient Greece. Dictionary Reference." EdwART, 2009.)

MIDAS

Once a cheerful Dionysus with a noisy crowd of maenads and satyrs wandered through the wooded rocks of Tmola in Phrygia (1). Only Silenus was not in the retinue of Dionysus. He lagged behind and, stumbling at every step, heavily intoxicated, wandered through the Phrygian fields. The peasants saw him, tied him with garlands of flowers and took him to King Midas. Midas immediately recognized the teacher Dionysus, received him with honor in his palace and honored him with sumptuous feasts for nine days. On the tenth day, Midas himself took Silenus to the god Dionysus. Dionysus rejoiced when he saw Silenus, and allowed Midas, as a reward for the honor that he showed his teacher, to choose any gift for himself. Then Midas exclaimed:

Oh, great god Dionysus, order that everything I touch turn into pure, shining gold!

Dionysus granted Midas' wish; he only regretted that Midas had not chosen a better gift for himself.

Rejoicing, Midas departed. Rejoicing at the gift he received, he plucks a green branch from the oak - the branch in his hands turns into gold. He plucks ears of corn in the field - they become golden, and golden grains in them. He picks an apple - the apple turns into gold, as if it were from the garden of the Hesperides. Everything Midas touched turned to gold immediately. When he washed his hands, the water dripped from them in golden drops. Midas exults. So he came to his palace. The servants prepared a rich feast for him, and the happy Midas lay down at the table. It was then that he realized what a terrible gift he had begged from Dionysus. One touch from Midas turned everything to gold. Bread, and all dishes, and wine became golden in his mouth. It was then that Midas realized that he would have to die of hunger. He stretched out his hands to the sky and exclaimed:

Have mercy, have mercy, oh Dionysus! Sorry! I beg you for mercy! Take back this gift!

Dionysus appeared and said to Midas:

Go to the sources of Pactol (2), there, in its waters, wash away this gift and your guilt from your body.

Midas, at the behest of Dionysus, went to the sources of Pactol and plunged there into its clear waters. The waters of Pactolus flowed like gold and washed away the gift received from Dionysus from the body of Midas. Since then, Pactol has become gold-bearing.

(1) A country in the northwest of Asia Minor.

(2) A river in Lydia that flows into the river Herm (modern Gedis).

(Source: "Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece". N. A. Kun.)

Synonyms:

See what "Midas" is in other dictionaries:

Midas 1 ... Wikipedia

Midas 2 ... Wikipedia

Modern Encyclopedia

King of Phrygia in 738 696 BC. e. According to Greek myth, Midas was endowed by Dionysus with the ability to turn everything he touched into gold. According to an ancient myth, the ignorant and self-confident Midas awarded the championship in the musical ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Midas- MIDAS, king of Phrygia in 738 696 BC. According to Greek myth, Midas was endowed by Dionysus with the ability to turn everything he touched into gold. According to an ancient myth, the ignorant and self-confident Midas awarded the championship in ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

The Phrygian king, to whom Apollo put donkey ears because he gave the palm in playing the lyre to the god Pan. Hence: a fool who does not understand anything in the matter of art. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Or the carriage, the planted sea turtle Chelonia mydas. Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary. IN AND. Dal. 1863 1866 ... Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

Exist., Number of synonyms: 1 king (32) ASIS Synonym Dictionary. V.N. Trishin. 2013 ... Synonym dictionary

- (MidaV) the name of many Phrygian kings. The first M. was the son of Gordia and Cybele, whose cult was very developed in Pessinunte. His name is associated with stories about a fatal gift, by virtue of which everything he touched turned into gold, and about donkey ears, ... ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

King Midas King Midas on a coin of one hundred Kazakh tenge 2004. Gold ... Wikipedia

Midas - in ancient Greek mythology, the son of Gordias, the king of Phrygia. Two myths popular in antiquity are associated with the name of Midas: about the golden touch and about the Midas judgment of the musical duel between Apollo and Marsyas (or Pan).

Midas already in childhood received a sign of future wealth. One day, ants began to crawl into his mouth and carry wheat grains there.
When the god Dionysus led his army to India, the teacher of Dionysus, Silenus, got lost along the way. According to one version of the myth, Midas mixed wine into the water of the source from which Silenus drank, and he, being dead drunk, could not continue his journey and was at the mercy of Midas, who received him in his palace, talked with him, and ten days later returned Silenus to Dionysus. As a reward for the return of his teacher, Dionysus promised Midas to fulfill his every wish. Midas wanted everything he touched to turn to gold.

Having received the gift of the golden touch, Midas, in joy, decided to have a feast, but found that his gift had a downside: the food he touched also turned into gold.

Fearing to die of hunger, Midas asked Dionysus to take the gift of the golden touch. Dionysus ordered Midas to bathe in the river Pactolus. The river became gold-bearing, and Midas lost his gift.

In The Book of Wonders for Girls and Boys by the 19th-century American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne, King Midas accidentally turned his daughter into gold.

Almost anything can be made from a Lego constructor, including King Midas. Here Midas is depicted with donkey ears, the origin of which will be discussed below.

According to another ancient Greek myth, Midas was the judge in a musical contest between Apollo and Marsyas.
The goddess Athena invented the flute, but seeing how ugly her cheeks swell when playing it, she threw the flute as an unnecessary thing and was picked up by the satyr Marsyas, who learned to play it so skillfully that he challenged the god Apollo himself to a musical competition. Marsyas played the flute, and Apollo played the cithara. Midas, who was the judge, preferred Marsyas. Angered, Apollo skinned Marsyas, and endowed Midas with donkey ears, which he was forced to hide under his hat. The barber, having learned the secret of Midas, dug a hole in the ground, whispered there "King Midas has donkey ears" and filled the hole. A reed grew in this place, which whispered about the secret to the whole world.
According to another version of the myth, Midas received donkey ears for judging a musical duel between Apollo and the god Pan.

Giacomo Palma the Younger. Apollo, Marsyas and Midas

Based on the myth of the Midas gift, two cartoons were filmed: in 1935 The Golden Touch / The Golden Touch (directed by Walt Disney, USA) and in 1980 The King and the Dwarf / Král a skřítek (directed by Lubomir Beneš, Czechoslovakia ).

Frame from Walt Disney's cartoon "The Golden Touch"

According to legend, Gordius, the first king of Phrygia, founded the city of Gordion, which became the capital of this state. In the temple of Zeus in Gordion, Gordius parked his wagon, tying it to the altar with a dogwood bast rope. He tied the rope with a very tricky knot (Gordian knot), so. that no one could untie him.
Gordias had an adopted son, Midas, who after his death began to rule Phrygia.

Nicholas Poussin. Midas before Bacchus.

Once, Dionysus (or Bacchus) traveled through the Phrygian land, with a cheerful company of Bacchantes, accompanied by his tutor Silenus. And drunk Silenus got lost in the forest. There he was found and brought before Midas. Midas recognized the teacher Dionysus, in honor of such a distinguished guest a feast was arranged. Then Midas sent messengers to Dionysus with the good news that his teacher was safe and sound. As a reward, Dionysus offered Midas any gift he wanted. And Midas, without hesitation, asked the cheerful god that everything he touches turns into gold. Dionysus immediately fulfilled the wishes of Midas. Midas decided to test the gift: he touched a tree branch - it turned gold, picked up a stone - it turned into a gold nugget. Midas came to his palace and, on this occasion, decided to throw a feast. But as soon as Midas took up food or drink, they immediately turned into gold. Midas, afraid to die of hunger, ran to Dionysus and asked him to take back this gift. Dionysus ordered Midas to bathe in the river Paktol, he lost the gift of turning everything into gold, and from that time the river began to carry grains of gold in its course.
Based on this myth, the Italian storyteller Gianni Rodari wrote the fairy tale "King Midas". Here is the end of this story:

.....
It's time to go to bed. King Midas touched the pillow and turned it into gold, touched the sheet, the mattress - and now instead of the bed there is a pile of gold, solid, solid. You can't sleep very well in a bed like this. The king had to spend the night in an armchair with his hands up - so as not to touch anything inadvertently. By morning, the king was mortally tired, and as soon as dawn broke, he ran to the magician Apollo, so that he would disenchant him. Apollo agreed.
“All right,” he said, “but be careful. The witchcraft will pass in exactly seven hours and seven minutes. All this time you must not touch anything, otherwise everything you touch will turn into dung.
King Midas left reassured and began to watch the clock so as not to touch anything ahead of time.
Unfortunately, his watch was a little fast - every hour ran ahead by one minute. When seven hours and seven minutes had passed, King Midas opened the door of his car and got into it. I sat down and found myself in a large dung heap. Because seven more minutes were not enough before the end of the witchcraft.

Does this Midas remind you of anyone? Personally, he reminds me of figures from the "United Russia": almost everything they touch. turns into manure.

King Midas is the hero of another myth.
One day, Apollo and Pan had a musical contest. Apollo played the cithara, and Pan played the flute. The judge of the contest awarded the victory to Apollo, but Midas expressed his "dissenting opinion" that he liked Pan better. And the angry Apollo rewarded Midas with donkey ears. So that those close to him would not see this "reward", Midas put on a hat (Phrygian cap), which he did not take off. The barber of Midas saw this "reward" when he did his job.

J. Ingres. Midas and his barber.

And, unable to keep this secret, the barber dug a hole, and, whispering there: “King Midas has donkey ears,” covered it with earth. A reed grew in this place, which whispered about this secret, so that it spread throughout the world. “For there is nothing hidden that will not be made manifest, nor hidden that will not be made known and revealed”. (Luke 8:16-17).

Archaeologists at the University of Pennsylvania were excavating Gordion, the capital of Phrygia. Having dug up the tomb of one of the Midas, who ruled in the VIII century. BC, scientists discovered brass - a beautiful yellow alloy of copper and zinc, very similar to gold. According to archaeologists, it was brass that made a great impression on contemporaries and therefore the myth of a king who turned everything into gold was born.

Once, a very long time ago, in those days when the gods still lived on Earth, a king lived on the territory of modern Turkey Midas. In the town Gordion(Gordion or Gordieion) state capital Phrygia The golden king Midas built a palace and, according to legend, descended into his vault and constantly counted the countless treasures that he owned. He is described as a very greedy and greedy king. It is believed that he judged the competition of Apollo himself and awarded the victory to the opponent. For this, Apollo made king Midas big ears. But this is not what the Phrygian king Midas became famous for ...

There are legends about the countless treasures of Midas. It is said that no other king in the world had such great wealth. Many adventurers and archaeologists have tried to find these jewels, but so far no one has been able to find anything. In 1957, archaeologists began excavating a mound in which the legendary Phrygian king was supposedly buried. The mound is 300 meters in diameter and about 60 meters high.

Photo from 1957

The remains that were found there were sent to the laboratory for examination. The radiocarbon analysis carried out gave an approximate date of death. The time of burial did not coincide with the time of the life of the golden king Midas. In addition, when a reconstruction of the head of the king was made on the basis of the found skull, it turned out to be a bit of a Mongoloid appearance.

Most likely, one of the Mughal (or Mongol) khans was buried in the barrow. And of course, no fabulous wealth was found in the mound. This once again confirms that archaeologists have not unearthed the tomb of King Midas.

The photo shows a modern view of the mound. Now the mound can be viewed, but the main finds have been transferred to museums.

In today's Turkey, in a slightly different place, the facade of a tomb carved into the rock with an entrance leading to nowhere has been preserved. This tomb is called Tomb of King Midas» ( Tomb of King Midas). It is believed that the gods were able to move to the other world through portals that only they knew how to open. Perhaps King Midas knew this way and went into that world along with all his wealth. Although it is difficult to say whether or not earthly riches are needed in the afterlife. But in any case, no gold and jewelry have been found so far.

The location of the tomb of King Midas is indicated on the site map.

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There is a very beautiful and instructive legend about the golden king Midas.

The god of winemaking, Dionysus, passed through the kingdom of Midas on his way to India. And he lost his beloved teacher Silenus in the Phrygian kingdom. The servants of King Midas accidentally found Silenus in a state of extreme intoxication. Everyone knows that the god Dionysus was the god of winemaking, so this is not surprising. The servants brought Silenus to the palace to Midas. The king gave a hospitable welcome to the teacher. When Dionysus found out where his teacher was and that he was alive and well, he was very happy. As a token of gratitude for saving Silenus, Dionysus offered to fulfill any desire of Midas.

Painting by N. Poussin (Nicolas Poussin)

It is known that Midas loved his only daughter more than anything in the world, but he loved gold even more. And so he wished that everything he touched turned into gold. Dionysus asked if he understood exactly what the king wanted or if he wants to change his mind and wish for something else. The king did not heed the warnings and insisted on his own: "I want everything I touch to turn into gold."

Dionysus granted the wish. Whatever Midas touched now turned to gold. He touched the tree - the tree became pure gold. He took the stone in his hands - the stone became an ingot of the purest gold. Midas was very pleased, his cherished desire came true, now he will definitely become the richest man in the world. In a good mood, he fell asleep. In the morning he was hungry and he ordered to bring the most delicious dishes of the kingdom. He planned to arrange a solemn feast. As soon as he raised the goblet of wine to his lips, the wine immediately turned into gold. The king tried to bite off a piece of meat, but could not - the meat also turned into gold. Then his beloved daughter entered the room and he kissed her as usual ... and to the horror of the king, she turned into a golden statue. The grief of Midas knew no bounds. He could neither eat nor drink and knew that soon he would simply die of hunger. In addition, he turned even his beloved daughter into gold.

Painting by British artist Walter Crane

The golden king Midas hurried to Dionysus and begged him to remove this curse from him. He was ready to give all his gold and precious stones, if only his beloved daughter would open her eyes again and he could talk to her. Dionysus took pity on the greedy king and told him to go to the river and bathe. After that, the curse will be washed away. And so it happened. Midas was able to eat and drink again ... But he could not return his daughter and soon died of grief. And gold is still being found in that river, but I will not say its name so that no one would have a desire to look for this damned gold, especially since those ancient times the name of the river has changed several times and it is difficult to establish which one it was river.

There is another version of this legend, according to which Midas still managed to revive his daughter, but he could not cope with his greed and again asked Dionysus to return to him the gift of turning stones into gold. Dionysus agreed. The golden king Midas made so many gold bars that gold simply ceased to be valued. It has become no more expensive than an ordinary roadside cobblestone. Now gold could not be exchanged even for a piece of bread. God Apollo was angry with King Midas and took away this gift from him, and as a punishment he made him long ears.

In any case, greed and greed do not lead to good!

By the way, in memory of the legend about the golden king Midas in the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2004, a commemorative coin was issued in 100 tenge of pure gold 999 samples.

The coin is called Gold of King Midas».

In the mythology of ancient Greece, there are many instructive stories that ridicule human vices. A striking example is the story of King Midas, who ruled the ancient state of Phrygia, presumably in the XIII-XII centuries. BC e.

It is believed that this mythological character was the adopted son of the ruler Gordius and the local goddess Cybele. Cicero in his work “On divination” mentioned that ants collected grains of wheat and put them in the baby’s mouth, which was a prediction of unprecedented wealth. Midas' teacher was Orpheus himself, personifying the power of musical art.

ill-considered desire

According to legend, Vladyka grew unique and luxurious gardens of roses. It was they who once attracted the aroma of the tipsy satyr Silenus, who is considered the teacher of Dionysus and travels in his retinue. Having drunk, the satyr wandered into the rose gardens and fell asleep under one of the fragrant bushes. The subjects of the king, having found an outsider on the territory of the palace, tied him up and took him to the ruler, who, however, received the unexpected guest cordially.

For several days Silenus drank the best wine in the Phrygian palace and told fascinating stories to the owner. Only Midas' deep reverence for Dionysus made the narrator let go. God of winemaking and fun decided to thank the savior of the spree pan and offered to fulfill his every wish. Inspired by such luck, the greedy wished that everything he touched would turn into gold.

It is not known for certain what caused such a craving for luxury: the instructions of the foster father, greed or the desire to ensure a prosperous future for his daughter - but, according to the myth, Dionysus fulfilled the desire of a person. He immediately hurried to check the acquired ability. And indeed: everything that the royal hand touched turned into gold.

For joy, the ruler of Phrygia arranged a great feast for himself and his daughter. However, any food instantly turned into a shiny metal, one had only to touch it. Realizing what a trap he had driven himself into, the man experienced fear and despair, which caused tears to flow from his eyes. The frightened daughter rushed to console her father, but froze, turning into a beautiful statue, barely hugging him, which was the last straw.

miraculous deliverance

According to the most common version, Dionysus heeded the pleas of Midas, who once again was disgusted with wealth. He ordered him to go to the source of the Paktol River, wash himself and sprinkle everything that suffered from the "golden touch" with spray. After a while, everything returned to normal.

The story could have ended there if the greedy man had not decided to clarify his desire: let things turn into gold only from his will. He reasoned that if Dionysus took his gift, then the hospitality towards Silenus remained unrewarded. God agreed to the new conditions, but warned that he would not help in correcting other people's mistakes.

Midas became the richest man in the world. But this only brought trouble to his state: everyone had too much gold, and it quickly lost value. Then the Phrygian lord decided to get rid of the ability again, leaving everything accumulated earlier. But, remembering the warning of the god of drunkenness, he realized that he would have to achieve the goal himself. Not counting on success, he nevertheless headed for the familiar Paktol River, and its waters once again carried away with them a destructive skill.

Punishment for greed

Trade in Phrygia improved, but the ruler did not leave the feeling of loss and longing. Once he was invited to a musical competition as a judge, as a student of the great Orpheus. He could not miss such an opportunity.

At the end of the competition, there were two participants left - Pan Marsyas and Apollo. The other judges and most of the audience were in favor of the latter's victory, but Midas reasoned that if the companion of Dionysus won, then he might come again to thank the Phrygian. According to another version, he simply liked the cheerful melody of the pan pipe. The unjust speech greatly offended the sun god.

He promised that the Phrygian king would answer for dishonoring the name of the great teacher. Dionysus did not come, but donkey ears appeared on the man’s head. Frightened of shame and ridicule, he tried to go out to people less often and wear bandages and hats. The only person who was forced to see the disease was the palace barber. Later, he will go to the river bank, where a hole dug in the ground will tell the secret that tormented him.

The opinions of ancient Greek sources on further events differ. Some believe that reeds grew in that place, with their rustling spreading the news of donkey ears around the world. Others believe that the news was spread by a reed pipe made by an unknown shepherd boy.

Out of despair and shame for his greed, he drank the blood of a bull, which is considered fatal for donkeys, and suddenly died.