Midas

Midas had been a wealthy king of Phrygia, known more for his rose garden than for any desire for gold. One day the Satyr Silenus was found drunk in the garden. Midas entertained him for 10 days, then returned him to Dionysius, the god of wine and revelry, who, out of gratitude, granted Midas a single wish. Midas wished that everything he touched would turn to gold. At first he was pleased with the gift. On his way home he turned a twig, a stone, a piece of sod, and an apple into gold. Unfortunately, when he had a feast prepared on his return, he found that he could not control his new power - everything turned to gold - including the food he wanted to eat. Realizing that he would starve to death if he did not do something, he returned to Dionysius and asked him to take away the power. Dionysius granted his wish and told him to wash in the waters of the Pactolus, the river that flowed by the city Gordion, the capital of Phrygia. According to local legend the power washed into the river and the sands of the Pactolus began to produce gold from that day forward, earning it the name the Golden Pactolus. It would supply Greece with much of her gold between 650 and 550 B.C..

The legend of King Midas may have been embellished by Greek storytellers, but he was a real king. He was the last of the royal line of the Phrygians, who had settled in the region around 1200 B.C.. His reign ended around 695 B.C., when invaders from the Caucasus region, called Cimmerians, conquered the Phrygian kingdom. Midas is said to have committed suicide by drinking bull's blood. Archaeologists believe that his tomb and what remains of the city of Gordion are located at Yassihoyuk, to the east of the Sakarya River. The Cimmerians would be defeated by the Lydian king Alyattes in 600 B.C.. While the Lydians established their capital at Sardis, the Pactolus still served as the source of their silver and gold.