Midas ( / ˈ m aɪ d ə s / ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Μίδας ) was a king of Phrygia with whom many myths became associated, as well as two later members of the Phrygian royal house.
97-555: His father was Gordias , and his mother was Cybele . The most famous King Midas is popularly remembered in Greek mythology for his ability to turn everything he touched into pure gold and this came to be called the golden touch , or the Midas touch . The legends told about this Midas and his adopted father Gordias , credited with founding the Phrygian capital city Gordium and tying
194-574: A Greek woman, and his other son Croesus , born from a Carian noblewoman, out of which the latter emerged successful. The tomb of Alyattes is located in Sardis at the site now called Bin Tepe , in a large tumulus measuring sixty metres in height and of a diameter of two hundred and fifty metres. The tomb consisted of an antechamber and a chamber with a door separating them, was built of well fitted and clamped large marble blocks, its walls were finely finished on
291-608: A Lydian ivory plaque at Kerkenes Daǧ suggests that Alyattes's control of Phrygia might have extended to the east of the Halys River to include the city of Pteria , with the possibility that he may have rebuilt this city and placed a Phrygian ruler there: Pteria's strategic location would have been useful in protecting the Lydian Empire from attacks from the east, and its proximity to the Royal Road would have made of
388-433: A king, consulted the oracle and were told to acclaim as king the first man to ride up to the temple in a cart. It was the farmer Gordias who appeared, riding in his ox-cart with his patroness. Gordias founded the city of Gordium , which became the Phrygian capital. His ox-cart was preserved in the acropolis. In this manner the founding myth justified the succession of Gordium to Telmessos as cult center of Phrygia. Its yoke
485-530: A lion's head, the symbol of the Mermnadae . Alyattes' tomb still exists on the plateau between Lake Gygaea and the river Hermus to the north of the Lydian capital Sardis — a large mound of earth with a substructure of huge stones. (38.5723401, 28.0451151) It was excavated by Spiegelthal in 1854, who found that it covered a large vault of finely cut marble blocks approached by a flat-roofed passage of
582-407: A seal inscribed in both Hittite cuneiform and Luwian hieroglyphs. In this connection, the myth would appear for Greeks to justify the exotic attribute. The stories of the contests with Apollo of Pan and Marsyas were very often confused, so Titian 's Flaying of Marsyas includes a figure of Midas (who may be a self-portrait), though his ears seem normal. In pre-Islamic legend of Central Asia,
679-607: A team from the University of Pennsylvania opened a chamber tomb at the heart of the Great Tumulus (in Greek, Μεγάλη Τούμπα)—53 metres in height, about 300 metres in diameter—on the site of ancient Gordion (modern Yassıhüyük , Turkey), where there are more than 100 tumuli of different sizes and from different periods. They discovered a royal burial, its timbers dated as cut to about 740 BC complete with remains of
776-428: A treaty of friendship and a military alliance with Colophon to secure the city's non-interference in his military operations against the other Greek cities on the western coast of Asia Minor, but Colophon first violated these agreements with Alyattes by supporting Clazomenae with its cavalry against Alyattes's attack, prompting the Lydian king to retaliate by massacring the mounted aristocracy of Colophon. The status of
873-481: Is a largely legendary account of these events which appears to not be factual. This legendary account likely arose as a result of Alyattes's offerings to the sanctuary of Delphi. Unlike with the other Greek cities of Anatolia, Alyattes always maintained very good relations with Ephesus , to whose ruling dynasty the Mermnads were connected by marriage: Alyattes's great-grandfather had married one of his daughters to
970-549: Is credited with inventing coined money by Julius Pollux after she married Midas. Some historians believe this Midas donated the throne that Herodotus says was offered to the Oracle of Delphi by "Midas son of Gordias" (see above). Assyrian tablets from the reign of Sargon II record attacks by a "Mita", king of the Mushki , against Assyria's eastern Anatolian provinces. Some historians believe Assyrian texts called this Midas king of
1067-609: Is however less clear, and it is uncertain whether they were also ruled by local Phrygian kings vassal to the Lydian king, or whether they were directly ruled by Lydian governors. With the defeat of the Cimmerians having created a power vacuum in Anatolia, Alyattes continued his expansionist policy in the east, and of all the peoples to the west of the Halys River whom Herodotus claimed Alyattes's successor Croesus ruled over -
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#17327654490801164-458: Is in Lydia the tomb of Alyattes the father of Croesus, the base whereof is made of great stones and the rest of it of mounded earth. It was built by the men of the market and the artificers and the prostitutes. There remained till my time five corner-stones set on the top of the tomb, and on these was graven the record of the work done by each kind: and measurement showed that the prostitutes' share of
1261-526: Is no available data concerning relations between the other mentioned peoples and the Lydian kings. The only populations Herodotus claimed were independent of the Lydian Empire were the Lycians , who lived in a mountainous country which would not have been accessible to the Lydian armies, and the Cilicians , who had already been conquered by Neo-Babylonian Empire . Modern estimates nevertheless suggest that it
1358-834: Is not impossible that the Lydians might have subjected Lycia, given that the Lycian coast would have been important for the Lydians because it was close to a trade route connecting the Aegean region, the Levant , and Cyprus . At some point in the later years of his reign, Alyattes conducted a military campaign in Caria , although the reason for this intervention is yet unknown. Alyattes's son Croesus, as governor of Adramyttium, had to provide his father with Ionian Greek mercenaries for this war. In 600 BCE, Alyattes resumed his military activities in
1455-527: Is the last barber alive in Cornouaille. He promises to let him live if Yeun keeps the secret and Yeun cuts his hairs with a magical pair of scissors. The secret is too heavy for Yeun though and he goes to a beach to dig a hole and tell his secret in it. When he leaves, three reeds appear. Years later, when Mark's sister marries, the musicians are unable to play for the reeds of their bagpipes and bombards have been stolen by korrigans . They find three reeds on
1552-571: Is the same person as the Mita , called king of the Mushki in Assyrian texts, who warred with Assyria and its Anatolian provinces during the same period. The King Midas who ruled Phrygia in the late 8th century BC is known from Greek and Assyrian sources. According to the former, he married a Greek princess, Damodice , daughter of Agamemnon of Cyme , and traded extensively with the Greeks. Damodice
1649-772: The Biblical Gog . This expansionism brought the Lydian Empire in conflict in the 590s BCE with the Medes , an Iranian people who had expelled the majority of the Scythians from Western Asia after participating in the destruction of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. After the majority of the Scythians were expelled by the Medes during that decade out of Western Asia and into the Pontic Steppe , a war broke out between
1746-631: The Cimmerians and the Lycians , attacked Lydia. They defeated the Lydians again and for a second time sacked the Lydian capital of Sardis , except for its citadel. It is probable that Ardys was killed during this Cimmerian attack or was deposed in 637 BC for being unable to protect Lydia from the Cimmerian attacks, and Ardys's son and successor Sadyattes might have also been either killed during another Cimmerian attack in 653 BCE or deposed that year for his inability to successfully protect Lydia from
1843-619: The Gordian Knot , indicate that they were believed to have lived sometime in the 2nd millennium BC, well before the Trojan War . However, Homer does not mention Midas or Gordias , while instead mentioning two other Phrygian kings, Mygdon and Otreus . Midaeum was presumably named after him, and this is probably also the Midas that according to Pausanias founded Ancyra (today known as Ankara ). Another King Midas ruled Phrygia in
1940-547: The Lydians , Phrygians , Mysians , Mariandyni , Chalybes , Paphlagonians , Thyni and Bithyni Thracians , Carians , Ionians , Dorians , Aeolians , and Pamphylians - it is very likely that a number of these populations had already been conquered under Alyattes, especially since information is attested only about the relations between the Lydians and the Phrygians in both literary and archaeological sources, and there
2037-478: The oracle of the god Apollo at Delphi . According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Alyattes's offerings consisted of a large silver crater and an iron crater-stand which had been made by welding by Glaucus of Chios , thus combining Lydian and Ionian artistic traditions. Alyattes's offering to Delphi might have been sent to please the sanctuary of Apollo and the Delphains, especially the priests, to impress
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#17327654490802134-439: The "Mushki" because he had subjected the eastern Anatolian people of that name and incorporated them into his army. Greek sources including Strabo say that Midas committed suicide by drinking bull's blood during an attack by the Cimmerians, which Eusebius dated to around 695 BC and Julius Africanus to around 676 BC. Archeology has confirmed that Gordium was destroyed and burned around that time. In 1957, Rodney Young and
2231-591: The Carians and the Mysians because they believed these three peoples descended from three brothers. These alliances between the Lydian kings and the various Carian dynasts required the Lydian and Carian rulers had to support each other, and to solidify these alliances, Alyattes married a woman from the Carian aristocracy with whom he had a son, Croesus, who would eventually succeed him. These connections established between
2328-599: The Cimmerian incursions. Alyattes thus succeeded his father Sadyattes amidst extreme turmoil in 635 BCE. Alyattes started his reign by continuing the hostilities with the Ionian city of Miletus started by Sadyattes. Alyattes's war with Miletus consisted largely of a series of raids to capture the Milesians' harvest of grain, which were severely lacking in the Lydian core regions. These hostilities lasted until Alyattes's sixth year (c. 630 BCE), when he finally made peace with
2425-536: The Cimmerians, led by their king Lygdamis , attacked Lydia for the third time. The Lydians were defeated, Sardis was sacked, and Gyges was killed, following which he was succeeded by his son Ardys . In 637 BCE, during the seventh regnal year of Ardys, the Thracian Treres tribe who had migrated across the Thracian Bosporus and invaded Anatolia , under their king Kobos, and in alliance with
2522-459: The Colophonian cavalry to Sardis, where he had them massacred in violation of hospitality laws and redistributed their horses to Lydian cavalrymen, following which he placed Colophon itself under direct Lydian rule. The reason for Alyattes's breaking of the friendly relations with Colophon are unknown, although the archaeologist John Manuel Cook has suggested that Alyattes might have concluded
2619-663: The Ephesian tyrant Melas the Elder: Alyattes's grandfather Ardys had married his daughter Lyde to a grandson of Melas the Elder named Miletus (Lyde would later marry her own brother Sadyattes, and Alyattes would be born from this marriage); and Alyattes himself married one of his own daughters to the then tyrant of Miletus, a descendant of Miletus named Melas the Younger, and from this union would be born Pindar of Ephesus. One of
2716-687: The Great ). Bury and Meiggs concluded that Ardys and Sadyattes reigned through an unspecified period in the second half of the 7th century BC, but they did not propose dates for Alyattes except their assertion that his son Croesus succeeded him in 560 BC. The timespan 560–546 BC for the reign of Croesus is almost certainly accurate. However, based on an analysis of sources contemporary with Gyges, such as Neo-Assyrian records, Anthony Spalinger has convincingly deduced dated Gyges's death to 644 BCE, and Alexander Dale has consequently dated Alyattes's reign as starting in c. 635 BCE and ending in 585 BCE. Alyattes
2813-431: The Greek visitors of the sanctuary, and to influence the oracle to advise to Periander of Corinth , an ally of Thrasybulus of Miletus, to convince the latter to make peace with Alyattes. According to Tractatus de mulieribus (citing Xenophilos, who wrote the history of Lydia), Lyde was the wife and sister of Alyattes, the ancestor of Croesus. Lyde's son, Alyattes, when he inherited the kingdom from his father, committed
2910-573: The Indo-European passage rite of the kóryos , would ritually take on the role of wolf- or dog-warriors. Immediately after this first victory of his over the Cimmerians, Alyattes expelled from the Lydian borderlands a final remaining pocket of Cimmerian presence who had been occupying the nearby city of Antandrus for one century, and to facilitate this he re-founded the city of Adramyttium in Aeolis . Alyattes installed his son Croesus as
3007-633: The Lydian control of the routes in inner Anatolia, and Lydia would gain access to the markets and maritime networks of the Milesians in the Black Sea and at Naucratis . Herodotus 's account of Alyattes's illness, caused by Lydian troops' destruction of the temple Athena in Assesos , and which was cured after he heeded the Pythia and rebuilt two temples of Athena in Assesos and then made peace with Miletus,
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3104-506: The Lydian kings and the Carian city-states ensured that the Lydians were able to control Caria through alliances with Carian dynasts ruling over fortified settlements, such as Mylasa and Pedasa , and through Lydian aristocrats settled in Carian cities, such as in Aphrodisias . Alyattes had inherited more than one war from his father, and soon after his ascension and early during his reign, with Assyrian approval and in alliance with
3201-517: The Lydians, the Scythians under their king Madyes entered Anatolia, expelled the Treres from Asia Minor, and defeated the Cimmerians so that they no longer constituted a threat again, following which the Scythians extended their domination to Central Anatolia until they were themselves expelled by the Medes from Western Asia in the 600s BCE. This final defeat of the Cimmerians was carried out by
3298-527: The Median Empire and another group of Scythians, probably members of a splinter group who had formed a kingdom in what is now Azerbaijan . These Scythians left Median-ruled Transcaucasia and fled to Sardis, because the Lydians had been allied to the Scythians. After Alyattes refused to accede to the demands of the Median king Cyaxares that these Scythian refugees be handed to him, a war broke out between
3395-526: The Median and Lydian Kingdoms in 590 BCE which was waged in eastern Anatolia beyond Pteria. This war lasted five years, until a solar eclipse occurred in 585 BCE during a battle (hence called the Battle of the Eclipse) opposing the Lydian and Median armies, which both sides interpreted as an omen to end the war. The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II and the king Syennesis of Cilicia acted as mediators in
3492-463: The Mermnad kings are uncertain and are based on a computation by J. B. Bury and Russell Meiggs (1975) who estimated c.687–c.652 BC for the reign of Gyges . Herodotus 1.16, 1.25, 1.86 gave reign lengths for Gyges's successors, but there is uncertainty about these as the total exceeds the timespan between 652 (probable death of Gyges, fighting the Cimmerians ) and 547/546 (fall of Sardis to Cyrus
3589-473: The Phrygian goddess Cybele adopted Midas. In other accounts, Midas was their son. Herodotus says Midas was Gordias' son and does not mention Cybele. Herodotus also says that Gordias' son Midas had a garden in Macedonia, which could imply that Herodotus believed Gordias lived before the legendary Phrygian migration to Anatolia. According to Herodotus, another member of the Phrygian royal line named Gordias
3686-429: The assembly, wagon and all. They, comparing the oracular response with this occurrence, decided that this was the person whom the god told them the wagon would bring. They therefore appointed Midas king and he, putting an end to their discord, dedicated his father’s wagon in the citadel as a thank-offering to Zeus the king. In addition to this the following saying was current concerning the wagon, that whosoever could loosen
3783-456: The barber fell ill. A druid advised him to go to a crossroads and tell his secret to the first tree he came to, and he would be relieved of his burden and be well again. He told the secret to a large willow . Soon after this, however, a harper named Craiftine broke his instrument, and made a new one out of the very willow the barber had told his secret to. Whenever he played it, the harp sang "Labraid Lorc has horse's ears". Labraid repented of all
3880-478: The barbers he had put to death and admitted his secret. In Ireland, at Loch Ine, West Cork, there is a similar story told of the inhabitant of its island, who had ass's ears. Anyone engaged to cut this King's hair was then put to death. But the reeds (in the form of a musical flute) spoke of them and the secret was out. The myth is also known in Brittany where the king Mark of Cornwall is believed to have ruled
3977-417: The beach and use them to make new ones, but the music instruments, instead of playing music, only sing "The King Mark has the ears and the mane of his horse Morvarc'h on his head" and Mark departs never to be seen again. Another King Midas ruled Phrygia in the late 8th century BC, up until the sacking of Gordium by the Cimmerians , when he is said to have committed suicide. Most historians believe this Midas
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4074-625: The border between the two kingdoms appears to have been a retroactive narrative construction based on symbolic role assigned by Greeks to the Halys as the separation between Lower Asia and Upper Asia as well as on the Halys being a later provincial border within the Achaemenid Empire . Alyattes died shortly after the Battle of the Eclipse, in 585 BCE itself, following which Lydia faced a power struggle between his son Pantaleon, born from
4171-412: The city an important centre from which caravans could be protected. Phrygia under Lydian rule would continue to be administered by its local elites, such as the ruler of Midas City who held Phrygian royal titles such as lawagetai (king) and wanaktei (commander of the armies), but were under the authority of the Lydian kings of Sardis and had a Lydian diplomatic presence at their court, following
4268-429: The city he encountered a seeress, who counselled him to offer sacrifices to Zeus/Sabazios: "Let me come with you, peasant," she said, "to make sure that you select the right victims." "By all means," replied Gordius. "You appear to be a wise and considerate young woman. Are you prepared to marry me?" "As soon as the sacrifices have been offered," she answered. Meanwhile, the Phrygians, suddenly finding themselves without
4365-494: The city of Clazomenae concluded a reconciliation agreement which allowed Lydian craftsmen to operate in Clazomenae and allowed the kingdom of Lydia itself to participate in maritime trade, most especially in the olive oil trade produced by the craftsmen of Clazomenae, but also to use the city's port to export products manufactured in Lydia proper. Soon after capturing Smyrna and his failure to capture Clazomenae, Alyattes summoned
4462-461: The city was not forced to provide the Lydian kingdom with military troops or tribute, Smyrna itself was in ruins, and it would only be around 580 BCE, under the reign of Alyattes's son Croesus, that Smyrna would finally start to recover. Alyattes also initially initiated friendly relations with the Ionian city of Colophon , which included a military alliance according to which the city had to offer
4559-437: The city's tyrant Thrasybulus , and a treaty of friendship as well as one of military alliance was concluded between Lydia and Miletus whereby, since Miletus lacked auriferous and other metallurgic resources while cereals were scarce in Lydia, trade of Lydian metal in exchange of Milesian cereal was initiated to seal these treaties, according to which Miletus voluntarily provided Lydia with military auxiliaries and would profit from
4656-434: The cord of the yoke of this wagon, was destined to gain the rule of Asia. This someone was to be Alexander the Great . In other versions of the legend, it was Midas' father Gordias who arrived humbly in the cart and made the Gordian Knot . Herodotus said that a "Midas son of Gordias" made an offering to the Oracle of Delphi of a royal throne "from which he made judgments" that were "well worth seeing", and that this Midas
4753-484: The covered up hole, and began whispering the story, saying "King Midas has an ass's ears". Some sources, such as Plutarch , say that Midas committed suicide by drinking bull's blood , a powdered crystal substance which was used in the ancient world as pigment for red paint, but very toxic due to its high level of arsenic. Sarah Morris demonstrated (Morris, 2004) that donkeys' ears were a Bronze Age royal attribute, borne by King Tarkasnawa (Greek Tarkondemos) of Mira , on
4850-458: The daughters of Melas the Younger might have in turn married Alyattes and become the mother of his less famous son, Pantaleon. Thanks to these close ties, Ephesus had never been subject to Lydian attacks and was exempt from paying tribute and offering military support to Lydia, and both the Greeks of Ephesus and the Anatolian peoples of the region, that is the Lydians and Carians, shared in common
4947-456: The descent and life of Midas. According to him, Midas was the son of Gordios, a poor peasant, and a Telmissian maiden of the prophetic race. When Midas grew up to be a handsome and valiant man, the Phrygians were harassed by civil discord, and consulting the oracle, they were told that a wagon would bring them a king, who would put an end to their discord. While they were still deliberating, Midas arrived with his father and mother, and stopped near
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#17327654490805044-492: The eleventh day, he took Silenus back to Dionysus in Lydia . Dionysus offered Midas his choice of whatever reward he wished for. Midas asked that whatever he might touch should be changed into gold . Midas rejoiced in his new power, which he hastened to put to the test. He touched an oak twig and a stone; both turned to gold. Overjoyed, as soon as he got home, he touched every rose in the rose garden, and all became gold. He ordered
5141-484: The ensuing peace treaty, which was sealed by the marriage of Cyaxares's son Astyages with Alyattes's daughter Aryenis , and the possible wedding of a daughter of Cyaxares with either Alyattes or with his son Croesus. The border between the Lydian and Median empires was fixed at a yet undetermined location in eastern Anatolia; the Graeco-Roman historians' traditional account of the Halys River as having been set as
5238-620: The existence of a Lydian citadel in the Phrygian capital of Gordion , as well as Lydian architectural remains in northwest Phrygia, such as in Dascylium , and in the Phrygian Highlands at Midas City . Lydian troops might have been stationed in the aforementioned locations as well as in Hacıtuğrul , Afyonkarahisar , and Konya , which would have provided to the Lydian kingdom access to the produce and roads of Phrygia. The presence of
5335-399: The existence of the garden implies that Herodotus believed that Midas lived prior to a Phrygian migration to Anatolia. According to some accounts, Midas had a son, Lityerses , the demonic reaper of men, but in some variations of the myth he instead had a daughter, Zoë, whose name means "life". According to other accounts he had a son named Anchurus . Arrian gives an alternative story of
5432-454: The first coins in history made from electrum , a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver. The weight of either precious metal could not just be weighed so they contained an imprint that identified the issuer who guaranteed the value of its contents. Today we still use a token currency, where the value is guaranteed by the state and not by the value of the metal used in the coins. Almost all coins used today descended from his invention after
5529-495: The framework of the traditional vassalage treaties used since the period of the Hittite and Assyrian empires, and according to which the Lydian king imposed on the vassal rulers a "treaty of vassalage" which allowed the local Phrygian rulers to remain in power, in exchange of which the Phrygian vassals had the duty to provide military support and sometimes offer rich tribute to the Lydian kingdom. The status of Gordion and Dascylium
5626-564: The funeral feast and "the best collection of Iron Age drinking vessels ever uncovered". This inner chamber was rather large: 5.15 metres by 6.2 metres in breadth and 3.25 metres high. On the remains of a wooden coffin in the northwest corner of the tomb lay a skeleton of a man 1.59 metres in height and about 60 years old. In the tomb were found an ornate inlaid table, two inlaid serving stands, and eight other tables , as well as bronze and pottery vessels and bronze fibulae. Although no identifying texts were originally associated with
5723-457: The god of the fields and satyrs. Roman mythographers asserted that his tutor in music was Orpheus . Once, Pan had the audacity to compare his music with that of Apollo , and challenged Apollo to a trial of skill (also see Marsyas ). Tmolus , the mountain-god, was chosen as umpire . Pan blew on his pipes and, with his rustic melody, gave great satisfaction to himself and his faithful follower, Midas, who happened to be present. Then Apollo struck
5820-409: The governor of Adramyttium, and he soon expelled these last remaining Cimmerians from Asia Minor. Adramyttium was moreso an important site for Lydia because it was situated near Atarneus and Astyra , where rich mines were located. Alyattes turned towards Phrygia in the east. The kings of Lydia and of the former Phrygian kingdom had already entertained friendly relations before the destruction of
5917-523: The inhabitants of the city for the construction of their temple of Athena. Alyattes was thus able to acquire a port which gave the Lydian kingdom permanent access to the sea and a stable source of grain to feed the population of his kingdom through this attack. Smyrna was placed under the direct rule of a member of the Mermnad dynasty, and Alyattes had new fortification walls built for Smyrna from around 600 to around 590 BCE. Although under direct Lydian rule Smyrna's temple of Athena and its houses were rebuilt and
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#17327654490806014-664: The inside, and it contained a now lost crepidoma . The tomb of Alyattes was excavated by the Prussian Consul General Ludwig Peter Spiegelthal in 1853, and by American excavators in 1962 and the 1980s, although by then it had been broken in and looted by tomb robbers who left only alabastra and ceramic vessels. Before it was plundered, the tomb of Alyattes would likely have contained burial gifts consisting of furniture made of wood and ivory, textiles, jewellery, and large sets of solver and gold bowls, pitchers, craters, and ladles. He created
6111-452: The joint forces of Madyes, whom Strabo credits with expelling the Treres and Cimmerians from Asia Minor, and of Alyattes, whom Herodotus of Halicarnassus and Polyaenus claim finally defeated the Cimmerians. In Polyaenus' account of the defeat of the Cimmerians, he claimed that Alyattes used "war dogs" to expel them from Asia Minor, with the term "war dogs" being a Greek folkloric reinterpretation of young Scythian warriors who, following
6208-403: The king Labraid Loingsech had horse/donkeys's ears, something he was concerned to keep quiet. He had his hair cut once a year, and the barber, who was chosen by lot, was immediately put to death. A widow, hearing that her only son had been chosen to cut the king's hair, begged the king not to kill him, and he agreed, so long as the barber kept his secret. The burden of the secret was so heavy that
6305-519: The king of the Ossounes of the Yenisei basin had donkey's ears . He would hide them, and order each of his barbers murdered to hide his secret. The last barber among his people was counselled to whisper the heavy secret into a well after sundown, but he didn't cover the well afterwards. The well water rose and flooded the kingdom, creating the waters of Lake Issyk-Kul . According to an Irish legend,
6402-433: The late 8th century BC. Most historians believe this Midas is the same person as the Mita , called king of the Mushki in Assyrian texts, who warred with Assyria and its Anatolian provinces during the same period. A third Midas is said by Herodotus to have been a member of the royal house of Phrygia in the 6th century BC. There are many, and often contradictory, legends about the most ancient King Midas. In one, Midas
6499-457: The latter by the Cimmerians. After defeating the Cimmerians, Alyattes took advantage of the weakening of the various polities all across Anatolia by the Cimmerian raids and used the lack of a centralised Phrygian state and the traditionally friendly relations between the Lydian and Phrygian elites to extend Lydian rule eastwards to Phrygia. Lydian presence in Phrygia is archaeologically attested by
6596-429: The name Aluáttēs derives it, via a form with initial digamma Ϝαλυάττης ( Waluáttēs ), itself originally from a Lydian Walweteś ( Lydian alphabet : 𐤥𐤠𐤩𐤥𐤤𐤯𐤤𐤮 ). The name Walweteś meant "lion-ness" (i.e. the state of being a lion), and was composed of the Lydian term walwe ( 𐤥𐤠𐤩𐤥𐤤 ), meaning "lion", to which was added an abstract suffix -at(t)a- ( 𐤠𐤯𐤠- ). Dates for
6693-401: The name Gordias for the father of another Midas still, who ruled Phrygia in the late 8th century BC. Herodotus wrote that a "Midas, son of Gordias" donated a throne to the Oracle of Delphi . This Midas, of the late 8th century BC, had a Greek wife and strong ties to the Greeks, which suggests it was he who made the offering; but Herodotus also says Gyges of Lydia , a contemporary of this Midas,
6790-491: The other Ionian Greek cities on the western coast of Asia Minor, that is Teos , Lebedus , Teichiussa , Melie, Erythrae , Phocaea and Myus , is still uncertain for the period of Alyattes's reign, although they would all eventually be subjected by his son Croesus. Alyattes's eastern conquests extended the Lydian Empire till the Upper Euphrates according to the scholar Igor Diakonoff , who identified Alyattes with
6887-415: The reign of Croesus . Phrygia was by that time a Lydian subject. Herodotus says that Croesus regarded the Phrygian royal house as "friends" but does not mention whether the Phrygian royal house still ruled as (vassal) kings of Phrygia. Gordias Gordias / ˈ ɡ ɔːr d i ə s / ( Ancient Greek : Γορδίας , Gordías ; also Γόρδιος, Górdios , "Gordius") was the name of at least two members of
6984-421: The river Pactolus . Then, whatever he put into the water would be reversed of the touch. Midas did so, and when he touched the waters, the power flowed into the river, and the river sands turned into gold. This explained why the river Pactolus was so rich in gold and electrum , and the wealth of the dynasty of Alyattes of Lydia claiming Midas as its forefather no doubt the impetus for this origin myth . Gold
7081-411: The royal house of Phrygia . The best-known Gordias was reputedly the founder of the Phrygian capital city Gordium , the maker of the legendary Gordian Knot , and the father of the legendary King Midas who turned whatever he touched to gold. The various legends about this Gordias and Midas imply that they lived sometime in the 2nd millennium BC. In the founding myth of Gordium , the first Gordias
7178-399: The same stone from the south. The sarcophagus and its contents had been removed by early plunderers of the tomb. All that was left were some broken alabaster vases, pottery and charcoal. On the summit of the mound were large phalli of stone. Herodotus described the tomb: But there is one building to be seen there which is more notable than any, saving those of Egypt and Babylon. There
7275-456: The same way and has changed enough to be extremely honest and fair (someone).Alyattes after seeing this becomes a changed man. In the south, Alyattes continued what had been the Lydian policy since Gyges's reign of maintaining alliances with the city-states of the Carians , with whom the Lydians also had strong cultural connections, such as sharing the sanctuary of the god Zeus of Mylasa with
7372-430: The scene before, and one after, the punishment. Midas was mortified at this mishap. He attempted to hide his misfortune under an ample turban or headdress, but his barber of course knew the secret, so was told not to mention it. However, the barber could not keep the secret. He went out into a meadow, dug a hole in the ground, whispered the story into it, then covered the hole up. A thick bed of reeds later sprang up from
7469-421: The servants to set a feast on the table. Upon discovering how even the food and drink turned into gold in his hands, he regretted his wish and cursed it. Claudian states in his In Rufinum : "So Midas, king of Lydia, swelled at first with pride when he found he could transform everything he touched to gold; but when he beheld his food grow rigid and his drink harden into golden ice then he understood that this gift
7566-404: The service of its famous and feared cavalry, which was itself made up of the aristocracy of Colophon, to the Lydian kingdom should Alyattes request their help. Following the capture of Smyrna, Alyattes attacked the Ionian city of Clazomenae , but the inhabitants of the city managed to successfully repel him with the help of the Colophonian cavalry. Following Alyattes's defeat, the Lydian kingdom and
7663-502: The site, it was called Tumulus MM (for "Midas Mound") by the excavator. As this funerary monument was erected before the traditional date given for the death of King Midas in the early 7th century BC, it is now generally thought to have covered the burial of his father. A third Midas is said by Herodotus to have been a member of the royal house of Phrygia and the grandfather of Adrastus, son of Gordias who fled Phrygia after accidentally killing his brother and took asylum in Lydia during
7760-413: The son of Sadyattes , grandson of Ardys , and great-grandson of Gyges . He died after a reign of 57 years and was succeeded by his son Croesus . Alyattes was the first monarch who issued coins , made from electrum (and his successor Croesus was the first to issue gold coins ). Alyattes is therefore sometimes mentioned as the originator of coinage, or of currency . The most likely etymology for
7857-478: The south-western region of Cornouaille. Chasing a white doe, he loses his best horse Morvarc'h ( Seahorse ) when the doe kills it with an arrow thrown by Mark. Trying to kill the doe, he is cursed by Dahut , a magician who lives under the sea. She gives life to Morvarc'h back but switches his ears and mane with Mark's ears and hair. Worried that the word might get out, Mark hides in his castle and kills every barber that comes to cut his hair until his milk brother Yeun
7954-444: The strings of his lyre. Tmolus at once awarded the victory to Apollo, and all but one agreed with the judgment. Midas dissented, and questioned the justice of the award. Apollo would not suffer such a depraved pair of ears any longer, and said "Must have ears of an ass!", which caused Midas's ears to become those of a donkey . The myth is illustrated by two paintings, "Apollo and Marsyas" by Palma il Giovane (1544–1628), one depicting
8051-500: The technology passed into Greek usage through Hermodike II - a Greek princess from Cyme who was likely one of his wives (assuming he was referred to a dynastic 'Midas' because of the wealth his coinage amassed and because the electrum was sourced from Midas' famed river Pactolus ); she was also likely the mother of Croesus (see croeseid symbolism). He standardised the weight of coins (1 stater = 168 grains of wheat). The coins were produced using an anvil die technique and stamped with
8148-480: The temple of an Anatolian goddess equated by the Greeks to their own goddess Artemis. Lydia and Ephesus also shared important economic interests which allowed Ephesus to hold an advantageous position between the maritime trade routes of the Aegean Sea and the continental trade routes going through inner Anatolia and reaching Assyria, thus acting as an intermediary between the Lydian kingdom which controlled access to
8245-455: The terrible crime of tearing the clothes of respectable people and spitting on many. She too held her son back as much as she could and placated those who were insulted with kind words and actions. She showed all his compassion to her son and made him feel great love for himself. When she believes that he is loved enough and abstains from food and other things, citing his illness as an excuse, Xenophilos accompanies his mother that he does not eat in
8342-621: The trade routes leading to the inside of Asia and the Greeks inhabiting the European continent and the Aegean islands, and allowing Ephesus to profit from the goods transiting across its territory without fear of any military attack by the Lydians. These connections in turn provided Lydia with a port through which it could have access to the Mediterranean Sea. Like his great-grandfather Gyges, Alyattes also dedicated lavish offerings to
8439-517: The west, and the second Ionian city he attacked was Smyrna despite the Lydian kings having previously established good relations with the Smyrniotes in the aftermath of a failed attack of Gyges on the city, leading to the Lydians using the port of Smyrna to export their products and import grain, Lydian craftsmen being allowed to settle in Smyrniot workshops, and Alyattes having provided funding to
8536-477: Was "the first foreigner since Midas" to make an offering at Delphi, which suggests Herodotus believed the throne was donated by the more ancient Midas. Alyattes of Lydia Alyattes ( Lydian language : 𐤥𐤠𐤩𐤥𐤤𐤯𐤤𐤮 Walweteś ; Ancient Greek : Ἀλυάττης Aluáttēs ; reigned c. 635 – c. 585 BC ), sometimes described as Alyattes I , was the fourth king of the Mermnad dynasty in Lydia ,
8633-533: Was a bane and in his loathing for gold, cursed his prayer." In a version told by Nathaniel Hawthorne in A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys (1852), Midas' daughter came to him, upset about the roses that had lost their fragrance and become hard, and when he reached out to comfort her, found that when he touched his daughter, she turned to gold as well. Now, Midas hated the gift he had coveted. He prayed to Dionysus, begging to be delivered from starvation. Dionysus heard his prayer, and consented; telling Midas to wash in
8730-476: Was a contemporary of Croesus of Lydia . His son Adrastus accidentally killed his own brother and fled to Lydia where Croesus gave him asylum. Phrygia was a Lydian subject at this time. This Gordias was the son of another Midas. Herodotus does not mention if this Gordias was still alive when Adrastus fled, or if this Gordias or his father Midas ever reigned as (vassal) kings. This Gordias and Midas pair are otherwise unknown. Some historians believe Herodotus used
8827-409: Was a poor farmer from Macedonia who was the last descendant of the royal family of Bryges . When an eagle landed on the pole of his ox-cart, he interpreted it as a sign that he would one day become a king. The eagle did not stir as he drove the cart to the oracle of Sabazios at the old, more easterly cult center, Telmissus, in the part of Phrygia that later became part of Galatia . At the gates of
8924-743: Was also referred to as Midas after amassing huge wealth from inventing taxable coinage using electrum sourced from Midas' famed river Pactolus . One day, as Ovid relates in Metamorphoses XI, Dionysus found that his old schoolmaster and foster father, the satyr Silenus , was missing. The old satyr had been drinking wine and wandered away drunk, to be found by some Phrygian peasants who carried him to their king, Midas (alternatively, Silenus passed out in Midas' rose garden). Midas recognized him and treated him hospitably, entertaining him for ten days and nights with politeness, while Silenus delighted Midas and his friends with stories and songs. On
9021-688: Was king of Pessinus , a city of Phrygia , who as a child was adopted by King Gordias and Cybele , the goddess whose consort he was, and who (by some accounts) was the goddess-mother of Midas himself. Some accounts place the youth of Midas in Macedonian Bermion (see Bryges ). In Thracian Mygdonia , Herodotus referred to a wild rose garden at the foot of Mount Bermion as "the garden of Midas son of Gordias, where roses grow of themselves, each bearing sixty blossoms and of surpassing fragrance". Herodotus says elsewhere that Phrygians lived in ancient Europe, where they were known as Bryges , and
9118-409: Was perhaps not the only metallic source of Midas' riches: "King Midas, a Phrygian, son of Cybele , first discovered black and white lead". However, according to Aristotle , legend held that Midas eventually died of starvation as a result of his "vain prayer" for the gold touch, the curse never being lifted. Midas, now hating wealth and splendor, moved to the country and became a worshipper of Pan ,
9215-436: Was secured with an intricate knot called the Gordian Knot . The legend of Gordium, widely disseminated by the publicists of Alexander the Great , said that he who could unravel it would be master of Asia (which was equated at the time with Anatolia). Instead, Alexander sliced the knot in half with his sword, in 333 BC. Arrian has Midas , Gordias' son, assuming kingship instead of his father. In some accounts, Gordias and
9312-441: Was the only foreigner to make an offering to Delphi before Gyges of Lydia . The historical Midas of the 8th century BC and Gyges of Lydia are believed to have been contemporaries, so it seems most likely that Herodotus believed that the throne was donated by the earlier, legendary King Midas. However, some historians believe that this throne was donated by the later, historical King Midas, great grandfather of Alyattes of Lydia who
9409-496: Was the son of the king Sadyattes of Lydia and his sister and queen, Lyde of Lydia, both the children of the king Ardys of Lydia. Alyattes ascended to the kingship of Lydia during period of severe crisis: during the 7th century BCE, the Cimmerians , a nomadic people from the Eurasian Steppe who had invaded Western Asia , attacked Lydia several times but had been repelled by Alyattes's great-grandfather, Gyges . In 644 BCE,
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