Phrygia was a region in Asia Minor (the Asian part of modern Turkey). |
Phrygia (FRIJ-ee-a). Large region in what is now Turkey. The legendary Midas, possessor of the "Midas touch", was a king of Phrygia. He was said to have found a drunken satyr in his fields one day and restored the goat-man to his master, the wine-god Dionysus. In gratitude, the god granted Midas to ability to transform whatever he touched into gold. This proved a mixed blessing, as the power could not be turned on and off. Dionsysus was kind enough to let Midas wash away his "touch" in the Phrygian river Pactolus. |