DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Immortals.
APOLLO.
BACCHUS.
PAN.
SILENUS.
TMOLUS, God of a Hill.
FAUNS, &c.
Mortals.
MIDAS, King of Phrygia.
ZOPYRION, his Prime-Minister.
ASPHALION, LACON, Courtiers.
COURTIERS, Attendants, Priests, &c.
Scene, Phrygia.
MIDAS.
ACT I.
Scene; a rural spot; on one side, a bare Hill, on the other an Ilex wood; a stream with reeds on its banks.
The Curtain rises and discovers Tmolus seated on a throne of turf, on his right hand Apollo with his lyre, attended by the Muses; on the left, Pan, fauns, &c.
Enter Midas and Zopyrion.
MIDAS.
The Hours have oped the palace of the dawn
And through the Eastern gates of Heaven, Aurora
Comes charioted on light, her wind-swift steeds,
Winged with roseate clouds, strain up the steep.
She loosely holds the reins, her golden hair,
Its strings outspread by the sweet morning breeze[,]
Blinds the pale stars. Our rural tasks begin;
The young lambs bleat pent up within the fold,
The herds low in their stalls, & the blithe cock
Halloos most loudly to his distant mates.
But who are these we see? these are not men,
Divine of form & sple[n]didly arrayed,
They sit in solemn conclave. Is that Pan,
Our Country God, surrounded by his Fauns?
And who is he whose crown of gold & harp
Are attributes of high Apollo?