As Shirley Bassey once said, "He's the man. The man with the Midas touch." But who was the man that's inspired stories from Greek myths to Bond bangers?

In this episode, Tristan Hughes is joined by archaeologist and classicist Professor Brian Rose to discuss the real King Midas, ruler of the Phrygian Kingdom in West Central Turkey between 740 and 700 BCE. They delve into the two sides of Midas: the historical and the mythical, explaining the origins of the both the Golden Touch myth, and why Midas is sometimes depicted with donkey's ears, and what we know about the real man and his kingdom based on Rose's excavations at the site of Gordian.

The Senior Producer was Elena Guthrie

Script written by Andrew Hulse

Voice over performed by Lucy Davidson

The Assistant Producer was Annie Coloe

Edited by Joseph Knight

If you enjoyed this episode, you might also enjoy other episodes in the series: Zeus: King of the Gods, Hera: Queen of the Gods, Hephaestus: God of Fire, Aphrodite: Goddess of Love, Ares: God of War and Athena: Goddess of Wisdom

For more Ancients content, subscribe to our Ancients newsletter here.

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - enter promo code ANCIENTS for a free trial, plus 50% off your first three months' subscription.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wes Goldberg and Mike Prada on the Southeast Division (Aug 2024)