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The golden touch
The ass's ears

The mythical King Midas features in a number of the legends of Ancient Greece and it is believed that King Mita, ruler of Phrygia (now western Turkey) in the 8th century BC, was the inspiration for these stories.

There are many versions of the legend but one suggests that an intoxicated satyr - a beast that was half man, half goat, and the tutor of Dionysos, the god of wine - lost his way and stumbled upon Midas and his palace. The King offered him the full extent of his hospitality and when Dionysos discovered this kindness he granted Midas a wish. The King asked that everything he touched be turned to gold.

At first Midas revelled in his gift, thinking that surely he would become the richest man in the world. But his foolishness quickly became apparent when food solidified before his eyes. In hunger and despair he embraced his young daughter for comfort, only to find that she too turned to gold.

Consumed by grief, the King begged Dionysos to take his golden touch away and eventually the god relented, telling Midas to bathe in the river Pactolus. Midas did so, also washing his daughter in the waters and returning her to life.

To this day it's said that the riverbank still appears golden because of the king's foolishness. In fact this colour is due to the alluvial god of the Pactolus.

Mita's riches

If Midas' greed surpassed his wisdom, the historical ruler that he was based upon was perhaps a more thoughtful man. King Mita, it seems, was a powerful and respected leader, a world away from the myths that now enshroud him. His remains were found in what later became known as Tumulus Midas Mount in Gordion, about 60 miles west of the modern day capital, Ankara. His bones revealed that he had lived some 60 to 65 years, an old age for the time, and his full set of unworn teeth showed that he was a healthy and well looked after man.

Inside the tomb, archaeologists found the King's skeleton lying in a cedar coffin, accompanied by 14 pieces of wooden, not golden, furniture. In fact none of the objects found in his tomb were made of gold.

But this was the tomb of a real king, not a mythical one. And it contained artefacts more precious to historians than gold. King Mita had been buried with the remains of a funeral feast in copper vessels. Whilst the mythical King went hungry on a diet of solid gold, it seems the historical King, or at least his mourners, enjoyed a protein-rich banquet of honeyed stew, barbecued meats and lentils.

Again, the versions of this myth vary, but one tells that Midas met a silinus - another part human demon, this time with the hooves and tail of a horse. This silinus was called Marsyas and, after finding the goddess Athena's flute, he became an accomplished musician. On the day that Midas encountered him he had challenged Apollo, the god of music, light and prophesy, to a contest.

King Midas, along with the muses, was asked to judge. Apollo played his lyre and the muses unanimously voted him the winner. Midas disagreed and, not knowing when to hold his tongue, said that Marsyas was the better musician. Angered, the god changed Midas' ears to those of an ass. He was, however, luckier than poor Marsyas, who was skinned alive and turned into a river.

The humiliated King had to wear a stocking cap pulled down over his head to cover them from his subjects. Only his barber knew the truth, but the knowledge proved too much and he couldn't keep it to himself. Deep in the country the barber dug a hole and whispered Midas' secret into it. He then buried it and returned home. The following spring, however, reeds and grasses grew from the hole and their leaves rustled the secret across the country. Midas became a laughing stock.

Mita's secret

From examination of the skull from the tomb, it seems likely that Mita's head had been tightly bound as a child in order to give it an elongated shape. There are many possible reasons for this but the most likely one is that this would have denoted royalty in antiquity. A stretched head, it seems, was regal in the time of Midas.

In addition to this deformity Mita's skull betrayed another strange fact: he had lopsided ears. Perhaps this was the seed that grew into the legend of Midas' ass's ears.