Midas, and the Real Life King Who Inspired the Mythology

The mythical King Midas, the one who turned everything he touched into gold, was actually based on a real life ancient monarch. The real Midas did not turn all he touched into gold, but he did have a golden touch.

The Mythology

There was a real life King Midas, although he did not turn all he touched into gold. Pinterest

In ancient Greek mythology, King Midas helped a drunk satyr – a male nature spirit with a horse’s tail and ears. As a reward, he offered to grant him a wish. Midas’ wish to turn everything he touched into gold was granted, but it backfired on him. That supernatural boon made him fabulously wealthy in the short term. However, it was not a superpower that could be turned on and off at will. It remained permanently on, and all that Midas touched turned into gold, whether he wanted it to or not.

That included the king’s beloved daughter, who was inadvertently turned into a golden statue when Midas touched her. His food and drink was also turned into gold, and he died of thirst and starvation. In another version of the myth, the god Dionysus lifted the curse after the king learned his lesson. In the latter version, the experience made Midas hate wealth and riches. So he left his palace and moved to the countryside. There, he reflected on things, and followed the simple life as a worshiper of Pan, the god of the wild.

The Real Life King Midas

Midas was given donkey ears — An angry Apollo gave Midas the ears of an ass. Pinterest

Sometime later, Pan challenged the god Apollo to a musical contest, and Midas was one of the judges. All the judges and witnesses declared Apollo the winner, except Midas, who sided with Pan. An irate Apollo stated that he “Must have the ears of an ass!”, and promptly turned the king’s ears into those of a donkey. It goes without saying that all the preceding is mere mythology and folklore, and that the stories never actually happened in real life. However, there was a real life monarch behind the mythical one – several kings of ancient Phrygia, in modern Turkey, were named Midas.

We know of an eighth century BC King Midas of Phrygia, who was described in ancient Greek and Assyrian sources. According to Greek sources, this monarch married a Princess Hermodice, and she is credited by some ancient sources with inventing Greek coinage, or money. Thanks to his wife, Phrygia, as an early adopter of coined money would have probably experienced an economic boom. Certainly in comparison to its neighbors, who still relied on the more inefficient barter system for trade.

The Tomb of the King Behind the Myth

Midas tumulus reconstruction — A reconstruction of Tumulus MM, named after King Midas. Wikimedia

In light of Phrygia’s booming economy, it is not hard to see how stories about the golden touch of its ruler, King Midas, got started. Further support is found in the archaeological record. Excavated Assyrian tablets from that period refer to a king named “Mita”, who attacked Assyria’s east Anatolian territories. Still further evidence emerged in 1957, when archaeologist Rodney Young opened a massive tomb compound near the site of ancient Gordium, in today’s Turkey.

In the compound, which measures about 900 feet long and 160 feet high, there is a royal burial from around740 BC. It includes the remains of a coffin of a man in his sixties, who stood about five feet and three inches in life. To accompany him to the afterlife, the burial contains ornate tables and bronze vessels inside of which are traces of alcohol – apparently, a final feast for the departed. Young named the tomb the “Midas Mound”, after the legendary king of the golden touch. However, later dating indicates that it was probably not the grave of the Midas of mythology, but that of his father.