Lara finds herself in the legendary palace of Midas, the mythical king with the power to turn everything he touched into gold. She must find three lead bars and transform them into gold to progress further.
This level includes exploring Midas' garden, navigating an aqueduct, solving puzzles, traversing flames, and battling various animals. Overall, it's a fun and exciting level.
Known references[]
07.00 - Alchemist theme[]
Midas was the man with the gift of turning everything he touches into gold. His life was short because even an apple turned gold.. The Core Team remembers this Greek myth also and put one of the hands in the level, that turns a lead bar into gold. [1]
It’s not too difficult to put the connection with alchemist who want to turn lead material into gold to chemical processes and this theme. A theme in TR Chronicles[2] and TrAOD: Eckhard the alchemist.
07.01 - Samson reference[]
In one of the rooms Lara pushes a block and destroys a column so she can cross the room. I think about the biblical story of Samson.[3] Maybe it is far fetch.
07.02 - Aquaduct[]
I don’t know if you find this one. But the Core Team builds a freaking aquaduct in the level! How cool is that. And.. it is not Greek it is Roman. Here is one example.
Pont du Gard, in Vers-Pont-du-Gard, Gard department, South France. The Pont du Gard is the most famous part of the roman aqueduct which carried water from Uzès to Nîmes until roughly the 9th century when maintenance was abandoned. The monument is 49m high and now 275m long (it was 360m when intact) at its top. It’s the highest roman aqueduct, but also one of the best preserved (with the aqueduct of Segovia). The Pont du Gard is a UNESCO world heritage site since 1985.
07.03 - Midas’s garden[]
It looks a bit like Hadrians Villa, Villa Adriana.[4] in Tivoli near Rome.
The villa was constructed at Tibur (modern-day Tivoli) for Emperor Hadrian as a private summer retreat between 118 and 134 CE. One of the most striking and best preserved parts of the Villa are the Canopus and Serapeum. Canopus was an Egyptian city where a temple(Serapeum) was dedicated to the god Serapis. (From here)
07.03 - Ionic columns[]
In one of the rooms of the Palace of Midas stand this beauty. The columns are in ancient Greek/Roman style.
The columns look a bit like the ones in Athens, the Erechtheion.
07.04 - Midas[]
There it is the remains of king Midas. A golden statue from him and a golden hand. The legend of Midas is that everything he touched turning into stone or “the golden touch”. Core Design incorporated this myth into this level. And they did it good.
07.05 - Temple with head of Medusa[]
I think it’s the head of Medusa. She is a ancient Greek goddess with snakes in her hear. There were three of them, called the Gorgons, ancient gods. If you look direct to her (or her two sisters) you’re turning into stone. She was slayed by the hero Perseus on Pegasus.
The Temple of Artemis in Corfu looks like the original source for this level.[5]
07.06 - Unreachable Medipack[]
An unreachable medipack
The unreachable medipack is an Easter egg!
Read more here: Easter Egg page
Unknown references[]
07.07 - Great! Broccoli with attitude![]
Looks like a giant broccoli. One of my thoughts in my head when playing the game.
07.08 - Zeus/Jupiter face from a statue[]
I don't know on which statue it is based.
Notes and sources[]
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| Tomb Raider 1 |
|---|
| TR1 Levels: Lara's Home - Caves - City of Vilcabamba - Lost Valley - Tomb of Qualopec - St. Francis' Folly - Colosseum - Palace Midas - The Cistern - Tomb of Tihocan - City of Khamoon - Obelisk of Khamoon - Sanctuary of the Scion - Natla's Mines - Atlantis - The Great Pyramid |
| TR1 Gold levels: Return to Egypt - Temple of the cat - Atlantean Stronghold - The Hive |
| Other: TR1 anagrams - Easter Eggs |