Cleansing Ourselves of Improper Desires: ‘Midas Washing at the Source of the Pactolus’

Reaching Within: What traditional art offers the heart

A detail from “Midas Washing at the Source of the Pactolus,” circa 1627, by Nicolas Poussin. Oil on Canvas; 38 3/8 inches by 28 5/8 inches. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Public Domain

Have you ever wanted something so bad you could taste it? I’m sure many of us have experienced an intense desire for something: more wealth, more love, more fame, and so on. Quite often, however, the things we desire aren’t what they seem, and they can leave a bad taste in our mouths.

In the cautionary tale of King Midas, his desires left him with no taste at all—literally. Despite his suffering, however, he eventually recovered.

How might we recover from the bad consequences of our extreme desires?

The Midas Touch

King Midas was a character in Greco-Roman mythology who was filled with greed. As the story goes, Midas showed great hospitality to the wise satyr Silenus, mentor to the god Dionysus. When Dionysus discovered that Midas was kind, he granted him a wish. Midas, without thinking clearly or rationally, let his desire for massive wealth take him over, and he wished that everything he touched would turn to gold.

Dionysus granted Midas’s wish, and Midas couldn’t wait to try it out. He walked through the palace grounds touching objects to test his new skill. He touched apples, ears of corn, twigs, foliage, even dirt, and turned them all to gold. He was wonderfully satisfied with his new gift.

He quickly discovered a problem, however. As he tried to put food in his mouth, it too turned to gold. He discovered that having such powers prevented him from eating or drinking.

Overwhelmed by the destructive consequences of his new wish, Midas begged Dionysus to free him from his curse and return everything to order. Dionysus agreed and instructed Midas to wash at the source of the Pactolus River.

Midas hurried to the river, washed, and was freed from his desire for wealth and the curse that his desire brought on him.

‘Midas Washing at the Source of the Pactolus’

“Midas Washing at the Source of the Pactolus,” circa 1627, by Nicolas Poussin. Oil on canvas; 38 3/8 inches by 28 5/8 inches. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Public Domain

In the painting “Midas Washing at the Source of the Pactolus,” the French Baroque painter Nicolas Poussin depicted the moment that Midas washes away his sin.

The main figures are diagonally arranged from lower left to upper right, and these diagonals increase the sense of movement. The river god—the largest figure in the center of the composition—represents the Pactolus River. He reclines with his back turned to us. In front of him, barely visible to us, he holds a pitcher from which he pours water to cleanse the remorseful Midas.

Midas is disrobed and entering the river. We can see his red robe hanging from the tree in the background. He bows his head toward the god in a mixture of gratitude and reverence, and he uses one of his hands to catch the pouring water.

Two cherubs are at the bottom right of the composition. Their vine-like headdresses, similar to the one worn by the river god, let us know that they accompany and assist him as he fulfills Dionysus’s command.

Cleansing Ourselves of Improper Desires

Midas’s story immediately implies that we should be careful what we wish for; a satisfied desire does not necessarily translate into satisfaction. Midas’s desire for excessive wealth only caused him pain and suffering.

In a way, his wish was irrational. He was already a king, the richest in his land, yet he still wished for more. Midas didn’t take the time to reflect on his wish thoughtfully and consider its consequences. Without the rational reflection necessary to temper his irrational desires, he hurt himself. At the extreme limit of his irrational desire to have it all, he was left with nothing.

Dionysus told Midas to wash at the source of the Pactolus River to alleviate the spell that afflicted him. Midas and the river god are the main points of interest in Poussin’s painting, and we can consider the river god a representative of Dionysus.

Poussin painted Midas disrobed, which, to me, spawns several questions. Is the act of disrobing representative of his setting aside his desire for material wealth? Must he put aside his possessions when he approaches the god? Is this the prerequisite for purifying himself of his sins?

Maybe disrobing symbolizes something even deeper. Must Midas come to the god in his naked truth, hiding nothing, for the god to accept him and wash away his sins?

Midas bows his head in gratitude and reverence. His mind is no longer concerned with gaining more material wealth. Instead, he appears to show the god the proper respect. Is it the case that Midas must approach the god with the proper state of mind—a state of mind that bares its truth and approaches with respect and gratitude—if he is to be absolved of his destructive wish?

Interestingly, the god turns away from us to turn toward Midas. Poussin could’ve painted them both facing us, yet he chose to compose the painting with the god’s back toward us. Why would he do this?

We are left asking, “Why can’t I see the god?” Is this Poussin’s way of making us look within to check our own state of mind for the gratitude and reverence appropriate for divine things? Is this the state of mind we must have if we want the divine to turn toward us and reveal itself again in the world? And is this state of mind the path to recovering from the bad consequences of our harmful desires?

Have you ever seen a work of art that you thought was beautiful but had no idea what it meant? In our series “Reaching Within: What Traditional Art Offers the Heart,” we interpret the classical visual arts in ways that may be morally insightful for us today. We try to approach each work of art to see how our historical creations might inspire within us our own innate goodness.