Greed In King Midas

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In the year 1960, a hard-working young man had saved up $5,000 and started his own investment firm. Forty-eight years later, that same man was imprisoned for 150 years for running an elaborate Ponzi scheme. The scandal was the largest pyramid scheme in history, and its operator became one of the most infamous figures of the time. This man, Bernard Madoff, who was at one time a hard-working individual, eventually gave into human nature, specifically greed, and became a monster. Greed is an evil that turns people into slaves of their own desires.
The definition of greed is the extreme desire for wealth or possessions, but it is far more than that. Greed is what turns the most innocent of people into monsters. Greed is being able to take …show more content…

One day King Midas meet Dionysus, the god of wine, and was rewarded for doing a good deed for a satyr. Midas wished that everything he touched to be turned to gold to satiate his desire for it. At first, Midas thought that it was the greatest thing to ever happen to him. But when he tried to eat he realized that all the food he touched turned to gold, and he would eventually starve to death. When his daughter tried to touch him, she turned to gold. He had lost a loved one due to his obsession with a material thing. Midas, distraught from the loss of his daughter, prayed for Dionysus to take back the power and to fix everything he had turned to gold. Midas had realized that he had become a slave to his own …show more content…

Throughout the story Midas’ desires also bring forth the negative consequences that normally follow greed. When wishing for a power to everything he touched into gold he thought he was receiving a blessing, but he soon found out that he was enslaved by it. Scrooge faced a similar problem; his greed had pushed everyone away from him and he had a high probability of being alone for the rest of his life. In the real world there are plenty of examples of people who gave into the greedy side of human nature and became what many would consider to be