"Bacchus offered Midas his choice of a reward, whatever he might wish. He asked that whatever he might touch should be changed into gold." —Bulfinch, 1897

Midas

"Bacchus offered Midas his choice of a reward, whatever he might wish. He asked that whatever he might…

"Rock-cut from of the Grave of Midas at Doganlu, in Phyrgia." —D'Anvers, 1895

Grave of Midas

"Rock-cut from of the Grave of Midas at Doganlu, in Phyrgia." —D'Anvers, 1895

"Midas was, in Greek legend, a King of Phrygia. For his kindness to Silenus he was promised by Dionysus whatever he should ask, and in his folly he asked that everything he touched should become gold; but, as the very food he touched was at once changed into gold, he was soon fain to implore the god to take back his fatal gift. He was told to bathe in the sources of the Pactolus, and from that day to this its sands have yielded grains of gold. 600 B. C."—(Charles Leonard-Stuart, 1911)

Tomb of Midas

"Midas was, in Greek legend, a King of Phrygia. For his kindness to Silenus he was promised by Dionysus…