The Legend of Midas

Abstract

MIDAS, A ruler of Phrygia during the latter part of the eighth century B.C., is virtually the only figure in Phrygian history who can be recognized as a distinct individual. From his chief city of Gordion, he controlled a large area of central Anatolia until his death at the time of the Kimmerian invasion into Anatolia in the early seventh century B.C. To the Greeks and Romans, however, Midas was primarily a character who appeared in several legendary tales. Proverbial for his fabulous wealth, the Midas of legend was also known as the man who captured and questioned Silenos to learn the meaning of happiness. In several accounts he appears as a figure of ridicule; the most complete of the extant narratives, that in Ovid's Metamorphoses, presents him as the king who was foolish enough to wish that everything he touched might turn into gold, and who was made more comical by the addition of ass's ears. As a result, the historical king of Phrygia and the legends associated with his name seem to be concerned with two separate charac ters, and several scholars have denied that one and the same man lies behind them.' Nonetheless, clear, if indirect, links can be established between the ruler of