History BlessedWithSuck / Mythology

** Retold as a tale about a medieval king in the Disney short ''TheGoldenTouch''.

* One of the [[OlderThanFeudalism earliest]] examples is the {{Greek myth|ology}} of King Midas. Everything he touched turned to gold. When he tried eating and drinking, he discovered the downside. (This also qualifies as NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished and BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor, as his golden touch was a wish granted by the god Dionysius as a reward for the hospitality Midas had shown to his friend and tutor Silenus. In Dionysius' defense he did try to warn him what a stupid wish it was.)

** Parodied in a Skittles commercial, in which an old man has the power to turn everything he touches into Skittles. His coworker thinks this is awesome. He is harshly corrected.
--->'''Old man:''' Is it awesome... when you can't hold your newborn baby boy in your arms? Did you feed and dress yourself this morning? I didn't. I met a man on the bus today. I shook his hand. [[TouchOfDeath He'll never see his family again.]] [[SarcasmMode I guess it's pretty awesome.]]

** Parodied in a Skittles commercial, in which an old black man has the power to turn everything he touches into Skittles. His coworker thinks this is awesome. He is harshly corrected.

* One of the [[OlderThanFeudalism earliest]] examples is the {{Greek myth|ology}} of King Midas. Everything he touched turned to gold. When he tried eating and drinking, he discovered the downside. (This also qualifies as NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished and BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor, as his golden touch was a wish granted by the god Dionysius as a reward for the hospitality Midas had shown to his friend and tutor Silenus.)

** The ''DinosaurComics'' version of Midas is [[http://qwantz.com/archive/001355.html even worse]].

* One of the [[OlderThanFeudalism earliest]] examples is the Greek myth of King Midas. Everything he touched turned to gold. When he tried eating and drinking, he discovered the downside. (This also qualifies as NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished and BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor, as his golden touch was a wish granted by the god Dionysius as a reward for the hospitality Midas had shown to his friend and tutor Silenus.)

--->'''Old man:''' Is it awesome... when you can't hold your newborn baby boy in your arms? Did you feed and dress yourself this morning? I didn't. I met a man on the bus today. I shook his hand. [[TouchOfDeath he'll never see his family again.]] [[SarcasmMode I guess it's pretty awesome.]]

** The {{Narnia}} book ''VoyageOfTheDawnTreader'' features a lake which has the Midas curse upon it.

* Servants in the Muslim paradise are said to be "boys blessed with eternal youth". Imagine being twelve or thirteen years old forever, eternally waiting on martyrs with dozens of virgins each, whom they are not expected to share with the help. Those boys' wanking arms are going to be really tired after a century or two!

* Chiron was also immortal, which was fine until he was accidentally shot with a poisoned arrow. He was left in burning unending pain until he sacrificed his immortality to allow Prometheus to go free (if he hadn't not even Hercules could have freed Prometheus).

** Depends on the source. Pandora being presented to mankind by the gods after the fire was stolen, and then her opening the stupid box/jar, led to the problems of the world. Can also be a case of lousy blessing in that Pandora was gifted by all the gods to be the perfect woman[[note]]Greek style[[/note]] -then Zeus blessed her with endless curiosity, without the brains or common sense to restrain it.

*** There was also a children's book that referenced this, ''The Chocolate Touch'', by Patrick Skene Catling (the main character's family name was Midas to complete the reference); the main character, a kid, somehow got the ability to turn everything that touched his lips to chocolate, and for some [[FridgeHorror Fridge Horror]], the cover of the book has the kid kissing his mother on the cheek, and you can see that she's turned into chocolate from the head down to around her shoulders.

** The {{Narnia}} book ''VoyageOfTheDawnTreader'' features a subterranean lake which has the Midas curse upon it.

** More dramatically, Prometheus's gift of fire to man was this, as well. Previously, man lived in an idyllic-but-primitive state, part of the gods' attempt to make sure that this time they wouldn't kill each other. While the fire from Olympus did inspire and elevate them, it also created violence and led all the social problems of the world.

* Prometheus was immortal, which was cool until the whole eagle-eating-out-his-liver-daily thing. Eventually, Hercules did pass by and unchain him though.

** The ''DinosaursComics'' version of Midas is [[http://qwantz.com/archive/001355.html even worse]].

* Eos, a Greek nymph, gifted her lover Tithonus with eternal life but not eternal youth.

* One of the [[OlderThanDirt earliest]] examples is the Greek myth of King Midas. Everything he touched turned to gold. When he tried eating and drinking, he discovered the downside. (This also qualifies as NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished and BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor, as his golden touch was a wish granted by the god Dionysius as a reward for the hospitality Midas had shown to his friend and tutor Silenus.)

* Prometheus was immortal, which was cool until the whole eagle-eating-out-his-liver-daily thing.
** ItGetsBetter when Hercules passes by and unchains him though.

*** There was also a children's book that referenced this, ''The Chocolate Touch'', by Patrick Skene Catling (the main character's family name was Midas to complete the reference); the main character, a kid, somehow got the ability to turn everything he touched to chocolate, and for some FridgeHorror, the cover of the book has the kid kissing his mother on the cheek, and you can see that she's turned into chocolate from the head down to around her shoulders.

*** There was also a children's book that referenced this, though I can't remember the title (the main character's family name ''WAS'' Midas to complete the reference); the main character, a kid, somehow got the ability to turn everything he touched to chocolate, and for some FridgeHorror, the cover of the book has the kid kissing his mother on the cheek, and you can see that she's turned into chocolate from the head down to around her shoulders.
*** That's ''The Chocolate Touch'', by Patrick Skene Catling.

* Prometheus was immortal, which was cool until the whole eagle-eating-out-his-liver-daily thing.

** The song ''King Midas In Reverse'' was written by someone who didn't understand the Midas myth and all its implications; the song is about somebody whose touch truns things to dust. The writer failed to realise that turning things to gold at a touch is just as bad; how would such a person eat or drink?

*** There was also a children's book that referenced this, though I can't remember the title (the main character's family name WAS Midas to complete the reference), the main character, a kid, somehow got the ability to turn everything he touched to chololate, and for some FridgeHorror, the cover of the book has the kid kissing his mother on the cheek, and you can see that she's turned into chocolate from the head down to around her shoulders.