The extraordinary
drinking set, which was used to serve the accompanying mixed fermented
beverage of wine, beer, and mead, has an importance that extends well
beyond Midas and his funerary feast. Later Greeks would have turned up
their noses at such a concoction, but Homer also describes a drink that
combines wine, barley meal, honey, and goat's cheese (Iliad 11:628-643;
Odyssey 10.229-243). Recent chemical analyses by McGovern's
laboratory of numerous Late Mycenaean and Minoan drinking vessels have
also shown that they were filled with the same mixed fermented beverage
as that in the Midas Tomb.
...Contrary
to legend, [King Midas] does not appear to have starved as a result
of a putative golden
touch or to
have poisoned himself...
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How could
two seemingly disparate culturesLate Bronze Greece (ca. 1400-1200
BC) and Iron Age Phrygiashare the same taste in beverages? The answer
may lie farther north in Europe, where a mixed fermented beverage was
being enjoyed at least 4000 years earlier than the time of the Vikings,
with whom mead-drinking is most closely associated. Grapes grew less well
in cold northern climes, but honey was abundant there, and other fruits
(especially apples and cranberries) were available to produce what may
be called today a punch or toddy. Scholars have long argued that the Mycenaean
Greeks were European invaders. The Phrygians are also believed to be of
European extraction via the Balkans and northern Greece. Thus, the predilections
of the two peoples for mixed fermented beverages might well be explained
by their common European origins. As grape vines proliferated and winemaking
improved, varietal wines from particular regions became a mark of civilized
life and barbaric
beer and mead were pushed to the sidelines. Yet, mead remained a speciality
of the Phrygians until at least the 1st century of our era.
As a result
of a remarkable archaeological discovery and the advent of modern scientific
tools, we have been able to put later accounts of King Midas to the test.
Of course, many of these tales have long been understood to be highly
fanciful. The decomposed body of King Midas, lying in state in his coffin,
might be viewed as the just reward for his over-indulgence. Yet, he lived
to the ripe old age of 60 or 65, far exceeding the average life expectancy
of the time (although those who survived into adulthood sometimes lived
to be very old). Contrary to legend, he does not appear to have starved
as a result of a putative golden
touch or to have
poisoned himself. If his funerary feast reflects what he ate and drank
in life, Midas benefited from a high-protein diet and the enhanced antioxidant
and nutritional content of a fermented beverage.
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