MIDAS. According to Ovid, Phrygian peasants captured an old, drunken man and brought him to Midas, their king. Immediately recognizing him as Silenus, a follower of Dionysus (Bacchus), Midas entertained the old man for ten days and returned him to the god. In gratitude, Dionysus granted Midas one wish. The king asked for the power to turn everything he touched to gold. He soon regretted this wish, when even his food and drink turned to gold in his mouth. Realizing that the wealth his power bestowed could not relieve his hunger or quench his thirst, he begged Dionysus to free him of the terrible gift. The god instructed him to bathe in the river Pactolus, near Sardis; Midas did so, and his magical power passed into the river, which from then on had golden sand.
     Midas is said to have promoted the worship of Dionysus and to have been the first foreigner to send tributes to the temple at Delphi. He also became involved in the musical contest of Apollo and Pan, another misjudgment that had unfortunate consequences for him.