find true love, or to have a healthy birth. But, one must admit that these are not the only reasons to pray. Often, one will pray to find a good job or even win the lottery. These both have to do with money. Greeks also prayed and made sacrifices to their gods so in return, the gods would do something for them, thus making evident the Greeks need for greed.The basic theme of ancient Greek culture was power, much like American polotics,* which is evident by the way King Midas and other well-known Greek heroes acted. Wealth, land, and people were all ways that individuals or groups possessed power. King Midas and the Golden Touch shows just how far one will go to have everything that they want. King Midas only focused on one consequence: being the richest man in the world. He didn't consider that he wouldn't be able to eat or hug his daughter. His greed and lust for power overcame his common sense.Though King Midas appears so different than today's society, it is true that if King Midas were placed in today's society, he wouldn't stand out at all (except maybe for the fact the he wears a helmet to cover his donkey ears). His actions and personality may appear somewhat snobbish, but truthfully, that is how many people act in today's society. One can hear about scandals, such as Whitewater, that are all focused on money. Though the people involved try to cover up the scandals, the public will always have a way to discover them, usually the media. Turn the news on and what does one find? Numerous stories involving money. May it be a scandal, bank robbery, or the stock market is rising, all people care about is money. The morning news on WVIT Channel 30 has a special Bloomberg Business Report that only deals with money, usually stocks (Bloomberg, 1998).People are after money all of the time. Sometimes so much that they are not able to understand the possible consequences of their greed. About fifty years ago, Frederik Pohl ...
