Midas was indisputably the most famous ruler of the Phrygian kingdom in central Turkey, and his Golden Touch made him an especially favorite subject in Greek legend. His first monumental project as king was a colossal tomb for his father (ca. 740 BCE) that was excavated by the University of Pennsylvania in 1957, and the finds from that tomb form the centerpiece of the Golden Age of King Midas exhibition at the Penn Museum (open February–November 2016). This lecture provides an overview of the city that he ruled, his diplomatic outreach to the Greeks, and his antagonistic relationship with the Assyrians.

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