Based on: Katarzyna Marciniak, Elżbieta Olechowska, Joanna Kłos, Michał Kucharski (eds.), Polish Literature for Children & Young Adults Inspired by Classical Antiquity: A Catalogue, Faculty of “Artes Liberales”, Warsaw: University of Warsaw, 2013, 444 pp.

King Midas loves only two things: gold and his daughter, Złotuszka [Goldie]. He collects as much gold as he can for his daughter. One day while counting the money in the treasury, Midas meets a young man who offers to fulfil one of his wishes. Midas wishes that everything he touches transforms into gold. The following day, the king wakes up and realizes that his wish was granted. He changes many objects into gold but also experiences some problems: his glasses turn into gold, as does a handkerchief made for him by his daughter; despite these unexpected difficulties, he remains happy. However, his happiness ends when Midas realizes that he cannot eat or drink because food also turns into gold. In despair, the king, forgetting about his “gift,” kisses his beloved daughter, and she becomes a golden statue. Then, the young man reappears and, after a short dialogue during which Midas is brought to realize the consequences of his greed, the man tells Midas to bathe in the river – its waters will remove the “gift.”

The author uses the name of a mythical character and the theme of a mythical story, but there is no direct reference to Antiquity (the story happens in a rather vague fairy-tale setting; lifestyle and conditions seem closer to modern times, e.g., Midas wears glasses). Myth is used to demonstrate the consequences of greed. There is no mention of Dionysus; the miraculous power is granted by a “young man” who appears out of nowhere and first fulfils Midas’ wish and then tells him how to get rid of it by washing in a nearby (sic!) river and splashing all the changed objects with water from that river (pp. 14–16; cf. Ovid, Met. 11.136–141). 

Like in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s version of the myth in A Wonder Book for Boys and Girls (1851)*, king Midas has a daughter whom he loves the most, and she is the main reason for his changing his mind. Even her name, Złotuszka [Goldie], while it is made up and is not a real name, it is a similar play on words to Marygold, the name the American writer gave to Midas’ daughter. Another important motif is the inability to eat or drink, and Midas openly admits that a piece of black bread and a cup of clean water are worth more to him than all the gold in the world (pp. 10–14). 

The story contains a straightforward moral lesson and is addressed to a young audience as a parable emphasizing values and the need to be careful what we wish for. There are also some humorous elements, for example, the scene when “the princess sees herself all splashed with water by her father who is also dripping with rivulets of water!” [Jakże zabawną minkę miała królewna, kiedy, ożywszy, zobaczyła się zlaną wodą przez ojca, również ociekającego strugami wody!] (p. 16). The story also contains references to the modern world, such as “today’s aircraft or electric tram” ([dzisiejszy samolot lub tramwaj elektryczny], p. 3) compared to miracles in the times of Midas.

* For more on the reception of Midas’ myth in children’s literature see Elizabeth Hale and Miriam Riverlea, Classical Mythology and Children’s Literature: An Alphabetical Odyssey, Warsaw: University of Warsaw Press, 2022, 58–60.

Elizabeth Hale and Miriam Riverlea, Classical Mythology and Children’s Literature: An Alphabetical Odyssey, Warsaw: University of Warsaw Press, 2022.

Roberts, Deborah H. and Sheila Murnaghan, ”’A Kind of Minotaur’: Literal and Spiritual Monstrosity in the Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne” in Katarzyna Marciniak, ed., Chasing Mythical Beasts. The Reception of Ancient Monsters in Children’s and Young Adults’ Culture, Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2020, 55–74.

Skrzypczak Andrzej, "Księgarnia i wydawnictwo Michala Arcta w Warszawie 1887–1950", in Justyna Myszkowska, ed., Warszawscy wydawcy, Warszawa: BPW. BGWM, 2003.