Gold is soft and easily shaped. So too was Midas. The muses tell of his golden touch, of his avarice, his foolishness, his lack of foresight. They tell of the prize he begged of Bacchus, who granted his request even as he laughed at its imprudence. And they tell of how Midas found his food, his wine, and, in some versions, even his daughter turned to gold at his lightest touch.
But those who tell this tale leave much of Midas from the story. Storytellers emphasize his greed and foolishness, but Midas had virtues as well as vices. Midas earned his gift from Bacchus with his tenacity and bravery on the battlefield, qualities which made his kingdom a formidable power. Although he had absolute power over his subjects, Midas ruled benevolently. Under Midas, no man in Phrygia was imprisoned or executed unjustly.
But before he was a king, Midas was a man. He was truly a foolish man but he felt profoundly even if he thought shallowly. And the inability to understand the causes of his sorrow did not render the pain any less acute. Pitiful plaything of gods who knew him better than he knew himself, Midas found no mercy at Bacchus’ hands until he had been stripped of his dignity and his child. And even then, Bacchus let Midas live on in the belief that his humiliation and his loss had been his own fault, a shame which tortured him for the rest of his days.
Myth judges Midas for his vices, but neither myth nor Midas looks poorly upon Bacchus, though he caused Midas’ shame. All-seeing god that he was, Bacchus knew what Midas’ choice was destined to be if he were offered whatever he wished. He knew what pain would come of it and offered the gift just the same. He robbed an innocent and largely virtuous man of his honor without cause. For, unlike most mortals debased by the gods, Midas committed no sin against any deity. He was merely an ordinary man, shallow and greedy as most are, who fell afoul of a cruel god’s amusement and the judgment of history.
The muses judge Midas more harshly for his failings than they do others. Men who did far worse than wish for gold are classed as heroes. Odysseus’ hubris nearly led him and his crew to a disastrous fate on multiple occasions and Achilles’ rage led to feuds with his allies and his mistreatment of the body of Hector of Troy. Orestes murdered his mother and Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter for favorable winds. That these men are glorified and Midas is mocked defies reason. Midas too is a tragic hero whose downfall is brought about by the whims of gods and his own failings. But the paramount tragedy of Midas is that he is not recognized as such.
