Both Uses of
Midas
in
The House of the Seven Gables
- One perceived him to be a personage of marked influence and authority; and, especially, you could feel just as certain that he was opulent as if he had exhibited his bank account, or as if you had seen him touching the twigs of the Pyncheon Elm, and, Midas-like, transmuting them to gold.†
Chpt 4
- Phoebe's Indian cakes were the sweetest offering of all,—in their hue befitting the rustic altars of the innocent and golden age,—or, so brightly yellow were they, resembling some of the bread which was changed to glistening gold when Midas tried to eat it.†
Chpt 7 *
Definitions:
-
(1)
(Midas) Greek mythology: the greedy king of Phrygia who Dionysus gave the power to turn everything he touched into gold
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Much less commonly, Midas can refer to other people, places, or things with that name.