Midas is a king who was trained in Bacchic rites. When Midas welcomes Bacchus into his palace, Bacchus grants him a wish, and Midas wishes for everything he touches to turn to gold. He soon regrets his wish when he can’t eat or drink anything that doesn’t turn to gold first. He prays to Bacchus who reverses the gift. He then wanders around as a nomad, disgusted with wealth. When he one day asserts that Pan is a better pipe-player than Apollo, Apollo transforms Midas’s ears into donkey ears.
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Midas Character Timeline in Metamorphoses
The timeline below shows where the character Midas appears in Metamorphoses. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 11: Midas
...Silenus—Bacchus’s old foster father—isn’t among them; Silenus had been found drunk by peasants of King Midas’s kingdom. Midas had once been trained in Bacchus’s rites. Pleased that Silenus is a fellow...
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Happy to be reunited with Silenus, Bacchus tells King Midas that he will grant him anything he desires. Without thinking, King Midas asks that everything...
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Midas realizes that his love of gold will destroy him. He prays to Bacchus, confessing his...
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Midas is now disgusted by wealth and wanders the mountainsides worshipping Pan, the pipe-playing god. One...
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Midas overhears the competition and disagrees with Tmolus’s verdict. Irritated by Midas’s naivete, Apollo turns Midas’s...
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Book 11: Laomedon’s Treachery
After punishing King Midas, Apollo visits Troy, a newly founded city. The founder, Laomedon, is slowly building the city...
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