The Midas Myth & Erysichthon’s Folly
What can the myth of Midas tell us? (That’s not Midas on the top of the page, by the way. Read on to the end to find out who it really is.) The modern science of positive psychology is teaching us more and more about human nature and the question of what truly makes us feel happy and fulfilled. Increasingly, our culture and our nature are at odds. Our culture, tied to our economic system, needs us to consume desperately, so it does its best to teach us that we need to consume and amass material things to be happy. We should know better. Not just because scientists studying positive psychology have begun to say so in the last decade: we’ve known better for a couple thousand years! The founders of modern psychology based their theories in part on Greek myths. Let’s take a look at what the ancient Greeks knew about materialism and happiness. Maybe we can remember their insight before, like Erysichthon, we cut down the sacred forest, instilling a hunger that can never be sated.
Freud And Jung Refine Greek Wisdom
Freud and Jung are thought of as pioneers of modern psychology. But in a sense, the ancient Greeks were the true pioneers of psychology. Both Freud and Jung were inspired by the Greek myths. Jung based his theory of archetypes, which he believed described fundamental universal aspects of the human condition, primarily on Greek myths. Freud’s central Oedipal theory of the developmental struggle between father and son takes its name from the Greek epic of fateful patricide. With their implicit endorsement in mind, let’s consider a couple Greek myths after first checking with one of the most formidable Greek philosophers to see what he thought about materialism and wealth.
Aristotle’s Chrematistics
Aristotle eschewed metaphor to speak about wealth directly, addressing the subject in a field of inquiry that he called “chrematistics”. Chrematistics, he said, was different from economics because it concerns wealth rather than production and exchange. Aristotle believed accumulating wealth is unnatural and dehumanizing. Aristotle condemned any economic activity that creates money from money rather than directly producing a useful good. Buying high and selling low to make a profit is immoral, according to Aristotle’s view.
That is, perhaps, a bit extreme. Modern economic theorists have offered rationales to support arbitrage as a useful function, pushing markets to more efficient prices. Or perhaps those are rationalizations, not rationales. Either way, studies show that once you earn a certain rather middle=class amount, increasing your income will not make you happier. On the other hand, modern work habits definitely induce stress and we see an epidemic of mild mental illnesses being medicated all around us. So perhaps Aristotle was onto something. Pursuing wealth for its own sake might make you crazy, but it probably won’t make you happy.
The Midas Touch
Dionysus was a foster kid. Despite his humble beginnings, he accomplished a lot…of drinking, as did his foster father, Silenus. Silenus got lost, as you do when you are an elderly satyr on a bender. Midas changed upon him and, recognizing him as Dionysus’ compatriot, invited him to the palace and feted him for days. The grateful satyr responded by granting Midas a wish.
Midas, himself the son of a peasant adopted by the king apparently had some insecurity issues around wealth, because he wished that everything he touched would turn to gold. Midas got what he asked for and was overjoyed when he turned a stone and a twig to gold. Then he turned all the roses in his garden to gold, and, being somewhat of a dope, did not see that as foreshadowing. He set a feast to celebrate and was disappointed when his food and wine turned to gold. And he was doubly disappointed when his daughter showed up, upset about the roses. As if that was not bad enough, she too turned to gold when the foolish king reached out to comfort her. So be careful what you wish for, and focus on relationships and experiences, not material things.
Consumption Can Consume You
If you focus on consumption, it will consume you. Modern society is beginning to wake up to the deleterious effects of a culture that is desperate to maintain economic momentum by hi-jacking minds to spur consumption. The stories of the ancient Greeks indicate they understood the perils of focusing on consumption at the expense of more important things, like nature.
Erysichthon’s Folly
Three centuries before the common era, the Greek poet Callimachus first recorded the cautionary tale of Erysichthon of Thessaly, later retold in Metamorphoses by the more famous Ovid. In case anyone might miss the didactic intent of the story, it begins “Tell — a warning to men that they avoid transgression — how Demeter made Erysichthon son of Triopas hateful and pitiful to see.” What did Erysichthon do to earn this fate? He put material possessions above nature.
Erysichthon wanted to build a feast hall, a place to consume, and consume conspicuously. He needed wood for construction, so he sent his men to cut wood in the sacred grove of Demeter, a forest beloved by the goddess and inhabited by spirits. The forest was a center of nature worship, with votive wreaths decorating a tree-shrine. His men recognized the sacred nature of the tree and refused to kill it, so Erysichthon cut it down himself.
By cutting down the tree, Erysichthon killed the Dryad wood-spirit that lived inside, who cursed him as she died. Demeter heard the spirits curse and punished Erysichthon by inflicting him with an insatiable hunger.
Now, let’s pause for a moment to leap forward nearly two millennia. John Maynard Keynes observes that most of us can meet our true needs, so our remaining “needs” are “relative needs.” As such, they are based on comparisons to what others have, and as long as someone else has more, our hunger to “keep up with the Joneses” is potentially insatiable. But back to our story…
A goddess’ curse is a serious problem. Overcome with hunger, Erysichthon began to eat ravenously. But the more he ate, the hungrier he became. He sold everything. He even sold his own daughter, Mestra. Poseidon gave Mestra the ability to change her shape, and she escaped, but then Erysichthon just took advantage of this gift to sell her over and over again in many forms.
Finally, out of food and desperately hungry, Erysichthon ate himself. So…consumer beware. Ultimately, material things are not going to make you happy. Modern science and ancient myth agree — place people and experiences at the center of your world if you want to be happy.
Explore The Art of the Good Life With Rascal
Please join us as we continue on our conceptual journey to the heart of the art of the good life. You can follow our articles here on Medium if you have an account, or simply bookmark our Medium page or follow us on Facebook.
We’ll tell you about the most popular course in the history of Yale, Psychology and the Good LIfe, and how you can take it for free. Want to get inspired? We’ve got an article on defining your life project. For insight into the struggle between happiness and perfection, check out our article on satisficers vs maximizers and Bruce Lee’s theory of the top dog and the underdog. We will tell you how you can add years to your life in our article on the benefits of yoga and tell you about what meditation can do to make you more productive and less stressed. We also consider some more abstract topics, like John Maynard Keynes thoughts on the art of life, or non-being and its place at the root of luxury, or the conceptual art color the blackest black, Vantablack. If you are a gourmet, you might want to check out these fine dining restaurants in Bali that could be contenders for a Michelin star. Enjoy!
*Note. Art history enthusiasts may wonder: who is represented in the gold bust at the top of the page? You know, of course, that is not actually Midas. It is a bust of Charlemagne from The Aachen Dom Cathedral in Germany made around 1350 for Charles the IV. It is also a reliquary. The emperor’s skull cap is inside. Just imagine…and bookmark Rascal.
