King Midas is a character (or perhaps two, father and son) who probably existed in real life, as a prince of Phrygia, in present-day Turkey. He became famous for turning everything he touched into gold. This part of the legend is obviously not entirely true. He was in reality probably an expert metalworker, especially with brass, which, with its dose of zinc, is very shiny, especially to the eyes of the Greeks who were unfamiliar with it (and instead used bronze, with the more opaque tin).
