Key words：Midas, Dionysus, gold, daughter
Genre：myth	Topic：money	Words:180
Midas' beloved daughter, seeing his dismay, threw her arms about him to comfort him, and, she too turned to gold!

The golden touch
　

Author：Unknown	Source：www.storyarts.org
Nation：Greece	Date：2008-8-19

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(Midas, from www.mythweb.com)

　

There was once a king named Midas who did a good deed for a Satyr and was granted a wish by the God of wine, Dionysus. For his wish, Midas asked that whatever he touched would turn to gold. Although Dionysus tried to dissuade him, Midas insisted that the wish was an excellent one, and it was granted!

Excitedly, Midas went about touching all sorts of things, turning them into gold.

Soon Midas became hungry. He picked up a piece of food, but he couldn't eat it, for it had turned to gold in his hand! "I'll starve," moaned Midas, "Perhaps this was not such a good wish after all!"

Midas' beloved daughter, seeing his dismay, threw her arms about him to comfort him, and, she too turned to gold! "The golden touch is no blessing," cried Midas. He went to the river and wept. The sand of that river turned as yellow as "fool's gold" for it is there, they say, that King Midas washed away the curse of the golden touch with his own tears.

 

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Discussion：

1. How did Midas get the magic of turning anything into gold?

2. Why couldn't Midas eat the food in his hand?

3. What happened to Midas' daughter?

4. What can we learn from the story?

　

Related resources:

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcptK1ocriI

    (A very funny play performed by modern kids)

2. http://www.thanasis.com/modern/midas.htm

    (An essay on Midas in detail)

3. http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/midas.html

    (An essay on Midas by Anna Baldwin)

　

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