WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.590 Dionysus, the god of drinking and drunkenness, wild music and wild dancing, 00:00:06.590 --> 00:00:12.420 loved to make great processions across the world with his satyrs, 00:00:12.420 --> 00:00:15.940 men with hairy legs and horses' hooves, 00:00:15.940 --> 00:00:19.170 singing and drinking and dancing. 00:00:19.170 --> 00:00:24.200 And among the satyrs would be Dionysus' old teacher, 00:00:24.200 --> 00:00:28.600 Silenus, white-haired, potbellied, 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:33.120 with red wine constantly dribbling from the corners of his mouth, 00:00:33.120 --> 00:00:36.880 but wise beyond wisdom. 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:40.320 And during one of those great processions across the world, 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:43.360 old Silenus was left behind. 00:00:43.360 --> 00:00:47.600 And he was found by some people, by some mortals, 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:52.330 staggering from one side of a road to another, singing to himself. 00:00:52.330 --> 00:00:54.120 And they caught the satyr; 00:00:54.120 --> 00:00:56.150 and they bound him with ropes; 00:00:56.150 --> 00:00:57.950 and they lifted him onto their shoulders; 00:00:57.950 --> 00:01:00.860 and they carried him to their king. 00:01:00.860 --> 00:01:05.150 Now their king was called Midas, King Midas, 00:01:05.150 --> 00:01:08.110 and he was a worshipper of Dionysus, 00:01:08.110 --> 00:01:12.820 the god of drinking and drunkenness, and wild music and wild dancing. 00:01:12.820 --> 00:01:15.970 And when he saw the old satyr bound with ropes, 00:01:15.970 --> 00:01:18.220 he was furious with his people. 00:01:18.220 --> 00:01:19.210 He took a knife; 00:01:19.210 --> 00:01:20.520 he cut the ropes; 00:01:20.520 --> 00:01:24.190 he sat the old satyr on his own golden throne; 00:01:24.190 --> 00:01:29.280 and he ordered that a feast be held in honour of Silenus. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:31.280 And when the feast was finished, 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:37.630 King Midas himself led the satyr to Dionysus, the great god. 00:01:37.630 --> 00:01:41.060 And when Dionysus saw his old teacher, 00:01:41.060 --> 00:01:44.090 his heart was filled with happiness. 00:01:44.090 --> 00:01:45.350 He ran across. 00:01:45.350 --> 00:01:48.040 He threw his arms round Silenus' neck. 00:01:48.040 --> 00:01:52.760 He kissed him on both cheeks and he turned to King Midas and he said, 00:01:52.760 --> 00:01:55.120 'I will grant you one wish, 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:58.600 one wish and one wish only. 00:01:58.600 --> 00:02:00.590 What do you want?' 00:02:00.590 --> 00:02:04.370 And at that time King Midas needed gold. 00:02:04.370 --> 00:02:06.720 He needed more gold. 00:02:06.720 --> 00:02:08.440 And he was thinking to himself, 00:02:08.440 --> 00:02:12.300 'If I ask for my chests and my coffers to be filled with gold, 00:02:12.300 --> 00:02:15.670 soon enough the gold will be spent. 00:02:15.670 --> 00:02:20.180 How could I get more gold than I've ever dreamed of?' 00:02:20.180 --> 00:02:28.020 And then, suddenly, an idea came into his mind, beautiful in its simplicity. 00:02:28.020 --> 00:02:30.030 He said, 'What I want is this: 00:02:30.030 --> 00:02:35.740 that everything I touch be turned into shining gold.' 00:02:35.740 --> 00:02:39.200 And the great god Dionysus looked at the king, 00:02:39.200 --> 00:02:41.870 and he smiled, and he bowed his head, 00:02:41.870 --> 00:02:44.140 and he vanished into the light. 00:02:44.140 --> 00:02:46.840 And King Midas turned to walk home, 00:02:46.840 --> 00:02:50.530 and, as he turned, he felt a stiffening about himself. 00:02:50.530 --> 00:02:51.960 And he looked down, 00:02:51.960 --> 00:02:56.870 and his clothes and his robes had hardened into gold. 00:02:56.870 --> 00:02:57.990 He crouched down. 00:02:57.990 --> 00:03:00.230 He touched the tip of a blade of grass. 00:03:00.230 --> 00:03:03.050 And there it was like a little golden dagger, 00:03:03.050 --> 00:03:05.040 jutting out of the ground. 00:03:05.040 --> 00:03:07.800 He ran and plucked an apple from a tree, 00:03:07.800 --> 00:03:10.250 and it was heavy, yellow gold, 00:03:10.250 --> 00:03:13.080 cold against the palm of his hand. 00:03:13.080 --> 00:03:15.370 He touched the trunk of another tree, 00:03:15.370 --> 00:03:19.840 and there it was, a golden tree stretching high above his head, 00:03:19.840 --> 00:03:22.520 the leaves no longer whispering and rustling, 00:03:22.520 --> 00:03:26.890 but clinking and clanking like golden chimes. 00:03:26.890 --> 00:03:30.960 And King Midas ran this way and that way, touching this and touching that. 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:32.470 And when he came to his palace, 00:03:32.470 --> 00:03:35.850 he stretched out his hands on the doorway of the palace, 00:03:35.850 --> 00:03:41.240 and there was a golden portal reflecting the light of the sun. 00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:43.090 He strode inside. 00:03:43.090 --> 00:03:45.890 He told his servants to prepare a great feast, 00:03:45.890 --> 00:03:48.770 so that he could celebrate his golden gift. 00:03:48.770 --> 00:03:52.840 And meat and bread and wine and honeycakes were served; 00:03:52.840 --> 00:03:54.680 and King Midas sat down, 00:03:54.680 --> 00:03:56.200 picked up a piece of bread, 00:03:56.200 --> 00:03:58.970 put it into his mouth and bit. 00:03:58.970 --> 00:04:03.340 And his teeth scraped across rough gold. 00:04:03.340 --> 00:04:04.330 He grabbed a cup; 00:04:04.330 --> 00:04:05.760 he lifted it to his mouth. 00:04:05.760 --> 00:04:13.250 At the touch of his lips the wine hardened into gold and he was spitting out little golden shards. 00:04:13.250 --> 00:04:17.420 Suddenly, he understood his mistake, 00:04:17.420 --> 00:04:21.020 he understood his terrible mistake. 00:04:21.020 --> 00:04:23.990 At that moment his little daughter, whom he loved, 00:04:23.990 --> 00:04:26.270 came running across the floor of the palace. 00:04:26.270 --> 00:04:29.010 She threw her arms around her father's neck, 00:04:29.010 --> 00:04:31.670 and she clattered onto the ground, 00:04:31.670 --> 00:04:40.740 the perfect, golden statue of a little girl but cold, cold, dead gold. 00:04:40.740 --> 00:04:46.380 Midas knelt beside her and his golden tears clattered onto her golden face. 00:04:46.380 --> 00:04:46.940 And he said, 00:04:46.940 --> 00:04:50.220 'Dionysus, Dionysus, I have made a terrible mistake. 00:04:50.220 --> 00:04:54.160 I beg you, take back your gift of gold.' 00:04:54.160 --> 00:04:57.390 And on the high slopes of Mount Olympus Dionysus, 00:04:57.390 --> 00:05:01.690 the god of drinking and drunkenness, wild music, wild dancing, 00:05:01.690 --> 00:05:03.680 looked down at King Midas, 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:07.570 and he felt pity stirring in his heart. 00:05:07.570 --> 00:05:09.580 And he appeared before the king. 00:05:09.580 --> 00:05:15.920 He said, 'Go and wash yourself in the River Pactolus where it bursts out of the side of the mountain, 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:21.150 and the gold will be washed from your skin, your heart, your soul, 00:05:21.150 --> 00:05:27.160 and everything you've turned into gold will be returned to its proper form.' 00:05:27.160 --> 00:05:29.050 And Midas leapt to his feet, 00:05:29.050 --> 00:05:30.860 and he ran out of the palace, 00:05:30.860 --> 00:05:33.110 and he ran, and he ran, and he ran 00:05:33.110 --> 00:05:37.350 until he came to the place where the River Pactolus burst from the side of the mountain. 00:05:37.350 --> 00:05:39.980 And he plunged into the water. 00:05:39.980 --> 00:05:42.940 He washed himself from head to foot. 00:05:42.940 --> 00:05:44.610 And as he washed himself, 00:05:44.610 --> 00:05:50.380 the gold was washed from his heart, his skin, his mind, his soul. 00:05:50.380 --> 00:05:52.710 And when he climbed out of the water, 00:05:52.710 --> 00:05:59.360 he hated gold with all the strength of the love that he'd had for it before; 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:01.690 and as he climbed out of the water, 00:06:01.690 --> 00:06:06.940 everything he'd turned into gold was returned to its proper form; 00:06:06.940 --> 00:06:10.700 and his little daughter leapt to her feet all unknowing, 00:06:10.700 --> 00:06:14.310 and ran into the arms of her nursemaid. 00:06:14.310 --> 00:06:16.460 And from that day onwards, 00:06:16.460 --> 00:06:20.300 the water of that river, the River Pactolus, 00:06:20.300 --> 00:06:23.680 has glimmered golden in the light of the sun. 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:28.760 And men and women have panned the mud and the silt of the river bed 00:06:28.760 --> 00:06:34.150 for hard, little, shining nuggets of gold.