However, it was impossible for Midas to hide his secret from his barber, who, of course, had to swear an oath of absolute secrecy – one which he was unable to bear. Midas was, naturally, ashamed of them, which is why he started wearing different types of headdress or a specific kind of royal turban even when he was sleeping in his bed. To add insult to injury, Apollo made sure that everyone is aware of this right off the bat, transforming Midas’ human ears into long, grey hairy ears of a donkey. Apollo's PunishmentĪpollo had only one explanation for Midas’ disagreement: “Boy, that man must have the ears of an ass,” he exclaimed before the crowd. To the surprise and dissatisfaction of no one present – including Pan himself – Tmolus declared Apollo the winner, but Midas, who just happened to be passing by from there, foolishly interfered, claiming that the decision is not right. Namely, Mount Tmolus was the site where the musical contest between Apollo and Pan occurred, with the god of the mountain (also named Tmolus) acting as the judge. The River Pactolus rises from the Mount Tmolus (modern-day Bozdag) which is where the second of Midas’ great misfortunes occurred. In fact, this is why the sands of Pactolus are golden-colored to this very day. “No problem,” said Dionysus, “you just need to wash yourself in the River Pactolus.” Midas went to Sardis, ancient-day Lydia – where Pactolus still flows today (near the Aegean coast of Turkey) – and did exactly that, passing on his gift to the river. So, Midas had no option but to go back to Dionysus and ask the god to take away his gift. He suddenly realized that it was all but impossible to satisfy them: both his food and his drinks turned into gold as well, the minute they touched his mouth, his teeth, or his tongue. Well, at least not until he got home and felt some hunger and some thirst. Afterward, he did the same to an ear of corn and some apples. He first turned some twigs into gold and then some stones. His wish granted, Midas went away trying it out.
Now, Midas could have asked for almost anything, but he opted for a somewhat strange (though, at first sight, also imaginative) thing: he asked Dionysus that he should be able to turn into gold everything he touched.
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