Myth 6: Midas and the Golden Touch
Summary
*Midas was a very greedy king, he was obsessed with gold
*He found a satyr sleeping in his garden and he recognized it as Dionysus's tutor. He brought him back to Dionysus who agreed to give him a wish
*Midas wished that everything he touched would turn to gold
*This backfired as he couldn't eat or drink because it turned to gold
*He tried to find a way around it but it didn't work so he begged Dionysus to reverse it. Dionysus told him to go into a river
*He reversed the curse and he was no longer greedy. He lived in the woods and listened to the god of wilderness, Pan, play music
*One day Pan and Apollo got into a competition over who could play the better music and everyone preferred Apollo, except for Midas. Because of that, Apollo gave him the ears of a donkey
*His barber found out and whispered it into a hole, but it escaped the hole and everyone found out that Midas had the ears of a donkey
Theme/Moral of the Story
Be careful what you wish for. When wishing for something in stories, if you aren't exremely precise in your wish, some loophole is going to be found and everything will backfire on you.
Natural Phenomena Explained
*Pan flute
Connection to Our Modern World
People are extremely greedy and they think they need to have everything they want, however this lands them and sometimes others in trouble and makes for unpleasantness all around.
Character: Midas
Midas was greedy and he took the chance to get what he wanted, foolishly not thinking of the consequences. He was lucky Dionysus let him reverse the curse otherwise he would have starved to death. He was too greedy for his own good, though he did learn his lesson.
*Midas was a very greedy king, he was obsessed with gold
*He found a satyr sleeping in his garden and he recognized it as Dionysus's tutor. He brought him back to Dionysus who agreed to give him a wish
*Midas wished that everything he touched would turn to gold
*This backfired as he couldn't eat or drink because it turned to gold
*He tried to find a way around it but it didn't work so he begged Dionysus to reverse it. Dionysus told him to go into a river
*He reversed the curse and he was no longer greedy. He lived in the woods and listened to the god of wilderness, Pan, play music
*One day Pan and Apollo got into a competition over who could play the better music and everyone preferred Apollo, except for Midas. Because of that, Apollo gave him the ears of a donkey
*His barber found out and whispered it into a hole, but it escaped the hole and everyone found out that Midas had the ears of a donkey
Theme/Moral of the Story
Be careful what you wish for. When wishing for something in stories, if you aren't exremely precise in your wish, some loophole is going to be found and everything will backfire on you.
Natural Phenomena Explained
*Pan flute
Connection to Our Modern World
People are extremely greedy and they think they need to have everything they want, however this lands them and sometimes others in trouble and makes for unpleasantness all around.
Character: Midas
Midas was greedy and he took the chance to get what he wanted, foolishly not thinking of the consequences. He was lucky Dionysus let him reverse the curse otherwise he would have starved to death. He was too greedy for his own good, though he did learn his lesson.
Myth 7: Demeter
Summary
*Demeter, the godess of harvest, had a daughter whom she loved very much. Her name was Persephone
*She was out picking flowers one day when she was abducted by Hades, god of the Underworld
*Demeter demanded Persephone back, but Hades had bribed Zeus so he didn't really want to make her come back
*Demeter made things stop growing and so Zeus rethinks his decision
*He says Persephone can come back as long as she hasn't eaten anything, for that is the rule of the Underworld
*She gets tricked into eating 6 pomegranate seeds so Zeus says for 6 months of the year she stays above ground and the other 6 she stays with Hades
*In the 6 months she's gone, Demeter doesn't let anything grow
Theme/Moral of the Story
Don't treat women like objects.
Natural Phenomena Explained
*Seasons
*Mushrooms, plants that can live without sunlight
*Flowers
Connection to Our Modern World
Women are still being forced into marriages in parts of the world. If they don't like their match, they can't say no or get a divorce, they're stuck no matter what.
Character: Persephone
Poor Persephone really gets the short end of the stick in this myth, no matter what way you look at it. Both Demeter and Hades want her to themselves, and they're battling it out and not letting her have a say. She was beautiful and sweet, a mama's girl and, perhaps sadly for her, Hades's love interest.
*Demeter, the godess of harvest, had a daughter whom she loved very much. Her name was Persephone
*She was out picking flowers one day when she was abducted by Hades, god of the Underworld
*Demeter demanded Persephone back, but Hades had bribed Zeus so he didn't really want to make her come back
*Demeter made things stop growing and so Zeus rethinks his decision
*He says Persephone can come back as long as she hasn't eaten anything, for that is the rule of the Underworld
*She gets tricked into eating 6 pomegranate seeds so Zeus says for 6 months of the year she stays above ground and the other 6 she stays with Hades
*In the 6 months she's gone, Demeter doesn't let anything grow
Theme/Moral of the Story
Don't treat women like objects.
Natural Phenomena Explained
*Seasons
*Mushrooms, plants that can live without sunlight
*Flowers
Connection to Our Modern World
Women are still being forced into marriages in parts of the world. If they don't like their match, they can't say no or get a divorce, they're stuck no matter what.
Character: Persephone
Poor Persephone really gets the short end of the stick in this myth, no matter what way you look at it. Both Demeter and Hades want her to themselves, and they're battling it out and not letting her have a say. She was beautiful and sweet, a mama's girl and, perhaps sadly for her, Hades's love interest.