Midas

Fool

note: yes yes, I know, I know, oui oui je sais, je vous promets – yes but : when it’s not good, you have to throw it away or start again. So I start again – then, the so, so, famous in the video game galaxy : “try again” is the game of the day.

So, I try again. Bon

Midas, a legendary level character who appeared like a golden comet in the even more famous video game Fortnite – totally rare, totally hellish to get, with challenges so easy to do that as soon as I try that kind of thing to do, you’ll lose me forever – I’ll be glued to the controller and that’ll be that.

And here is Midas risen from the shadows of Hades by the grace of the developers of this game so despised –
Midas, appearing like a whirlwind in the brains of every player on the planet and here they are all playing the nerds – how do you not know the legendary King Midas?

The story of this legendary king comes to us directly – yes, almost – from Ovid –
And as always with the Ancients, the story is told very, very quickly, getting to the point was the rule – which allows everyone else, you know, us, those who follow, to pick up and re-adapt these stories that are more like synopses than stories in contemporary mode.
The proof?

Here is Ovid’s version:
“The god Bacchus, escorted by his troupe of Satyrs and Bacchae, was passing from Thrace to Phrygia. On the way, the Satyr Silenus, drunk and dead, lost consciousness and fell asleep on the roadside. None of his companions noticed it. Some Phrygian peasants stumbled upon Silenus and captured him to deliver him to king Midas. The latter, happy to find the one who had once initiated him into the bacchic orgies, welcomed him warmly. Then, he led him to the god Bacchus who was desperately looking for him. To thank him, the Greek god proposed to Midas to choose his reward. Unwise, the Phrygian king chose the ability to turn everything he touched into gold. This power, which delighted him at first, soon turned out to be catastrophic: even the food and drink Midas carried in his mouth turned to gold, preventing him from eating and drinking. Midas then recognized his mistake and bitterly regretted his choice. Indulgent, Bacchus, who had warned him, rid him of this fatal power by advising him to go and bathe in the Pactolus, a river whose waters and nearby fields have since been the color of gold (this is the origin of the expression “to touch the Pactolus”).
After this unfortunate story, Midas then lived in the woods near Tmolus (a mountain of Lydia located in the west of the current Turkey). One day, the god Pan with his simple pipe had the audacity to measure himself against the brilliant Apollo in a contest of song and music. Designated as referee, the mount Tmolus gave the victory to Apollo. Only Midas took Pan’s side. Apollo punished Midas for his stupidity by giving him donkey ears, which he hid under his long hair. But, one day, the king’s barber overheard Midas’ awful secret. Unable to stop himself from revealing what he had discovered, but fearing the king’s wrath, the servant isolated himself and dug a hole to which he confided his secret in a low voice. Then he covered it with earth. The following year, reeds grew in that very spot and since then, when the wind stirs them, they speak of King Midas’ donkey ears…”

While it is legendary, the original version mostly presents the story of a fool bent on being ever more stupid – and okay, that’s not at all, epic and even less heroic.

On the other hand, the original Midas fits perfectly with the long line of headless fools that populate the video game universe, headed – in my unassuming opinion – by Prince Daedra : Sheogorath, the great demi-god of worlds in the series: Elder Scrolls – Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim – for the latest and best known.

What to make of this find for a theatre that claims to play with both old things and young things?

Well, first of all, to create a short theatre adaptation of Ovid’s story – perfect to amaze children and adults too.
Everything that is needed is there: the story, the fantastic beings, the stupidity, the infernal visual punishment – ah to see everything become gold – ah to understand that water also becomes gold – and all kinds of food and to ask: but by the way, didn’t the air become gold too?

Then integrate this pretty story in the theme of the Fool
and finally don’t forget to invite Epic Games to come by with their legendary Midas – or come by their place, remember they are the most inventive and open to the world at the moment? they are the ones who made real concerts on their maps?
And this is how an easy and obvious link is made –

with a hearty Midas for Altair, against Epic Games’ epic Midas, you can have a totally legendary game moment – our Midas’ goal could be to offer his famous pointy, hairy ears to his contemporary doppelganger… for example – or put them into play in the game – or or or or … the possibilities are almost endless really
Knowing that this whole duet dance game with a video game will also be played within the walls of Altair, we would have everything to get the gold that the legend left lying around in the Pactolus.

okay…

yes yes yes – I know what you could say : easy to say, to enter like that in a big game
I know very well that it is not easy – that it costs money and that it takes time – a lot of money – a lot of time
The only good question is: is it worth spending so much time and money to invent a link like that?
My position is that it is – without a doubt

And because you’re great, you surely didn’t forget that in the fun little details of Altair, there is a virtual reality mode named – by myself oui oui- the Sheogorath mode, a mode in which you don’t know what’s going to happen, you only know that it’s going to be deeply stupid.

How can you miss the Sheogorath mode when you summon a fool like Midas in Altair’s programming? you can’t.

Voilà: it’s better this way, isn’t it ? it’s more: Altair oriented

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Featured Image : Midas – seen by Epic Games in Fortnite

as you can see, I try not to: give up – but – I have so many “buts” that I could easily open a store – so I’ll do the best I can, when I manage to avoid the hordes of “buts” that are in my way