Midas
Once a cheerful Dionysus with a noisy crowd of maenads and satyrs wandered through the wooded cliffs of Tmola in Phrygia. Only Silenus was not in the retinue of Dionysus. He fell behind and, stumbling at every step, very drunk, wandered through the Phrygian fields. The peasants saw him, tied him up with garlands of flowers and took him to the king Midas. Midas immediately recognized the teacher Dionysus, received him with honor in his palace and honored him with luxurious feasts for nine days. On the tenth day, Midas himself took Silenus to the god Dionysus. Dionysus was delighted when he saw Silenus, and allowed Midas to choose any gift for himself as a reward for the honor he had shown his teacher. Then Midas exclaimed:
- Oh, great god Dionysus, let everything I touch turn into pure, shiny gold!
Dionysus fulfilled Midas' wish; he only regretted that Midas had not chosen a better gift for himself.
Rejoicing, Midas left. Rejoicing at the gift he received, he plucks a green branch from an oak tree - the branch in his hands turns into a golden one. He plucks the ears of corn in the field - they become golden, and the grains in them are golden. He plucks an apple - the apple turns golden, as if it were from a garden Hesperides. Everything that Midas touched immediately turned into gold. When he washed his hands, the water dripped from them in golden drops. Midas rejoices. Here he came to his palace. The servants prepared a rich feast for him, and happy Midas lay down at the table. It was then that he realized what a terrible gift he had begged from Dionysus. At the touch of Midas, everything turned to gold. The bread, all the viands, and the wine became golden in his mouth. It was then that Midas realized that he would have to die of hunger. He stretched out his hands to heaven and exclaimed:
- Have mercy, have mercy, oh, Dionysus! Sorry! I beg you for mercy! Take back this gift!
Dionysus appeared and said to Midas:
- Go to the origins Pactola, there in its waters wash away this gift and your guilt from your body.
At the behest of Dionysus, Midas went to the sources of Pactolus and plunged into its pure waters there. The waters of Pactolus flowed with gold and washed away the gift received from Dionysus from the body of Midas. Since then, Pactolus has become gold-bearing.