Realgar
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Realgar, also known as arsenic blende, ruby sulphur or ruby of arsenic, is an arsenic sulfide mineral with the chemical formula α-As4S4. It is a soft mineral occurring in monoclinic crystals, or in gr
Realgar crystals, Royal Reward Mine, King County, Washington, US
Cluster of realgar crystals from Getchell Mine, Adam Peak, Potosi District, Humboldt County, Nevada, United States
Cherry-red realgar crystals atop a matrix, and a sharp acicular spray of the rare species picropharmacolite (white needles) below
Crystals of realgar, quartz, chalcopyrite and galena, from Quiruvilca Mine, La Libertad, Peru
Midas
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Midas was a king of Phrygia with whom many myths became associated, as well as two later members of the Phrygian royal house.
Realgar
…by "bull's blood", which matches the known effects of arsenic poisoning. Bull's blood is the poison that is said to have been used by Themistocles and Midas for suicide. The Chinese name for realgar is 雄黃 (Mandarin xiónghuáng), literally 'masculine yellow', as opposed to orpiment which is 'feminine yellow…
King Midas on a red-figure stamnos from Chiusi around 440 BC, British Museum
The Midas Monument, a Phrygian rock-cut tomb dedicated to Midas (700 BCE)
In the Nathaniel Hawthorne version of the Midas myth, Midas's daughter turns to a golden statue when he touches her (illustration by Walter Crane for the 1893 edition).
The "Tomb of Midas" in Gordion, dated 740 BCE