Search Results: Pactolus

Midas was a mythical king of Phrygia in Asia Minor who was famous for his extraordinary ability to change anything he touched into gold. This gift was given to him by Dionysos in thanks for his hospitality to the wise satyr Silenus. Midas...

Croesus (r. 560-546 BCE) was the King of Lydia, a region in western Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) and was so wealthy that the expression "as rich as Croesus" originates in reference to him. Best known for his wealth, he is also famous for...

The Lydian Stater was the official coin of the Lydian Empire, introduced before the kingdom fell to the Persian Empire. The earliest staters are believed to date to around the second half of the 7th century BCE, during the reign of King Alyattes...

Dionysos (Roman name: Bacchus, also known as Dionysus) was the ancient Greek god of wine, merriment, and theatre. Being the bad boy of Mt. Olympus, Dionysus was perhaps the most colourful of the Olympian Gods. Son of Zeus In Greek mythology...

Bacchus was the god of wine and revelry in Roman mythology. Considered the most versatile and elusive of the gods, with a Greek equivalent in Dionysus, Bacchus is frequently associated with the Roman god of wine Liber Pater. He brought joy...

Gold, chemical symbol Au (from the Latin aurum meaning 'shining dawn'), is a precious metal which has been used since antiquity in the production of jewellery, coinage, sculpture, vessels and as a decoration for buildings, monuments and statues...

Satyrs (aka silens) are figures from Greek mythology who were followers of the god of wine Dionysos. Satyrs were often guilty of excessive sexual desires and overindulgence of wine. Men with a horse's tail and ears or men with goat legs...

Sardis (near modern-day Sart, Turkey) was the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Lydia founded (according to Herodotus) by the Heracleidae, the Heraclid Dynasty descended from the hero Heracles (Hercules). The city was famous in antiquity...

Arachne, from the Greek arákhnē (meaning spider), is a figure in Greek mythology whose talent for weaving was renowned and who famously challenged the goddess Minerva to a weaving competition. As told in Ovid’s (43 BCE-17 CE) Metamorphoses...

Lydia was a region of western Asia Minor which prospered due to its natural resources and position on trading routes between the Mediterranean and Asia. The Kingdom of Lydia flourished in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE and expanded to its...