Changes

Dire as it was, and mourned a choice so bad.” <ref> Ovid. <i> Metamorphoses.</i> Translated by A. D. Melvile. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), XL, 96</ref>

[[File: Black-figure_pottery,_Midas,_Hermes,_Silenos,_500_BC.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|Greek Vase Depicting Midas Greeting the Gods Hermes and Silenus]]

Although the mythical and legendary stories of King Midas are fantastic to say the least, like all legends they are based on some degree of reality. Modern historians generally consider Midas’ rule to be the highpoint of Phrygian culture, which is based on the material culture discovered in excavations and references to the king and his kingdom in Greek, Assyrian, and even biblical texts. The fifth century Greek historian, Herodotus, mentions King Midas in a passage that demonstrates the political and cultural influence he had in the region at the time as well as his wealth.