“The Follies of Midas” Notes/Study Guide/Vocabulary Confiding – telling in secret Deliriously – wildly; madly Enraptured – delighted; thrilled Gracious – kind; polite Inadequate – unsatisfactory; not enough Nudged – pushed or elbowed Procession – moving line of people or things Renounce – give up Tutor – private teacher Verdict – decision; judgment Know the following information for the quiz: Some servants of Midas go into the forest and find Bacchus tutor Silenus unconscious; they bring him back to their king. As a reward for returning Silenus to him Bacchus agrees to grant Midas one wish; Midas is very greedy and chooses to have everything he touches turn to gold. Bacchus grants this wish, however, Midas is unhappy because it means that he cannot eat or drink anything, since everything turns to gold when he touches it. Midas goes to Bacchus and asks how to remove the curse; he is told to was in the river Pactolus. The curse is removed and Midas learns to appreciate the simple things in life and share his wealth; he, however, does not learn to think before he speaks. He almost instantly gets in trouble by agreeing to judge a musical contest between Pan and Apollo. Midas stupidly chooses Pan, thus insulting the God Apollo who curses him to have the ears of an ass so he can hear better. Midas keeps this a secret from all but his barber; the gossiping wind, however, reveals Midas secret. Midas’ neighbors think this is a good punishment for him because he now looks like the ass he is. .