In Phrygia, the land of roses, lived King Midas. One day, a drunkard named Silenus wandered into one of the King 's rose bushes and fell asleep after wandering from Bacchus ' train. Silenus was presented to the King wrapped in roses as a joke and was hosted for ten days in the palace. Silenus led Midas to Bacchus who as a gesture of gratitude for having his drunkard back, granted Midas any wish. Like any greedy King, he wished that everything he touched would turn to gold. Bacchus grants him the wish despite knowing what would happen to him, perhaps to teach him a lesson. Midas could no longer eat or drink and soon begged Bacchus to reverse his wish. Bacchus sent him to wash in the river Pactolus and Midas no longer had his wish. It is said that this is the reason why gold was later found along the river. In another version of the myth presumably the Greek version, Silenus is Bacchus '/ Dionysus ' teacher and Midas also turns his daughter to gold after touching many other things. This makes him realize that the golden touch is no gift and he cries in the river, running it yellow like gold until the curse was broken. The moral of the myth is that greed will only lead to one 's downfall. Later, in a musical contest between Apollo and Pan, Midas sided with Pan 's musical performance for which Apollo punished him by giving him …show more content…
Midas himself can be considered a transcendent hero. A transcendent hero is a hero whose fatal flaw brings about his downfall, but not without coming to a realization regarding their mistakes or achieving new wisdom. In one version of King Midas, his wish grants him enormous wealth, but soon accidentally he turns his beloved daughter into gold and realizes the cost of greed, his personal fatal flaw, and cries until the curse is broken. Midas is not technically a hero because his story is meant to be a parable about the dangers of