LEGENDS AND MYTHS: KING MIDAS: King Midas was a persian king.He was a good king that had the needs of his people in mind.As the saying goes, no one is perfect,King Midas had a weakness and his weakness was the love of gold.He adored the metal.Oneday,while walking in the woods,he overheard apollo,the greek god of music and sungod,singing. The song was so melodious that the birds of the air,the leaves on the trees and the wind itself stood still and listened.King Midas,realizing what was happening,started extolling the virtues of apollo,calling him the best singer amongst the gods on mount Olympus.Apollo couldnt stand the flattery so he asked the king what he would have him do for him. Midas wasted no time,he made a request that everything he touhed should turn to gold.Be careful what you wish for, oh king,the god warned.But King Midas was too excited to rethink.The warning came two more times then his request was granted. Rushing back to his palace,Midas discovered how heavy his royal robe was then he realised that in his rush to go home,he had touched his robe and it had turned pure gold.He looked at his reflection in a mirror and smiled.Quickly,he rushed out into the palace and touched everything he wanted,and soon,everything was sparkling in the rising sun.He entered the gardens and touched a pond of water and it turned pure gold.He whimpered in exictment,he the proceeded to touch the trees,fruits and soon the garden was a golden one. He was soon hungry and called for food.When the servants brought the food,he touched it and it became gold. my servants will feed me then.... as he was contemplating on what to do,his daughter,who hadnt seen him since morning ran to embrace him,as soon as she touched him she became a statue of pure gold.Midas couldnt take it anymore,he ran out of the palace and made for the forest.As he got there,apollo mocked him for his greed and told him he had been warned.Midas begged and apollo saw the sincerity in his heart and told him to and wash in the river Styx,a river that supposedly seperates the underworld from the world of the living. He obeyed but he went there with a jug,after washing in the river,he fetched the water.As he bathed in the water,the sands of the river turned to gold.But as he got home,he first rushed into the palace and sprinkled the water on his beloved daughter,then on the food then the garden,then the palace walls till every trace of the element disappeared.He learned a lesson,that happiness wasnt in the amount of wealth but in the people we love. But news of the event had spread throughout the kingdom,traders carried the news,sailors and travellers carried the news to other lands and king Midas was immortalised. So the next time someone says something about having a midas touch,you just smile cos you know what he or she means. #EL_A
Posted on: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 10:06:46 +0000
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