And I Must Scream/Oral Tradition: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
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== Mythology ==
* [[Greek Mythology]] is full of this:
** Prometheus's fate to be chained to a rock and have his ever-regrowing liver serve as a buffet for an eagle for eternity.
*** In the tragedy ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'', lots of people come past his rock -- not [[Come to Gawk|to point and laugh]] but sympathize and chat -- a chorus of Oceanids, Io, etc. That's probably just one take on the myth, but still. Ultimately, he was rescued by Heracles, who obviously had to know where he was. Is it wrong to find that scenario perversely comical? ("Hey, Prometheus, how're you doing?" "Oh, you know, Julius, same shit, different day." "Say, the 10:15 eagle is running late." "Yeah, that guy's a slacker. [eagle arrives] Hey, where ya been? This liver's not gonna eat itself!")
*** Well, one ''[[Horrible Histories]]'' book did try for a moderately humorous version in which they refer to each other as "Prommy" and "Eddie". This being an HH book, Prommy announced at the end that he was going to eat the eagle's liver.
*** And in the animated series based on Disney's ''Hercules'', the eagle brings an onion with him [[Black Comedy|because a diet consisting entirely of liver doesn't provide enough roughage]]. Prometheus hopes he gets indigestion from eating his liver with an onion.
*** Another variation on the story has the eagle being friends with Prometheus, they carry on a brief chat until the eagle goes mad and tears out Prometheus liver. The eagle being forced to do this every day against his will might constitute a minor version of this trope.
*** Prometheus still exults in being able to resist telling Zeus the secret of his eventual overthrow, a fate that Zeus has been anxious to evade ever since the start of his reign.
* Atlas being condemned to bear the heavens (''[[Sadly Mythtaken|not]]'' the world) on his shoulders for eternity.
** Then being [[Taken for Granite|turned to stone]] by Athena, using Medusa's head. Although in some versions he ''asked'' to be turned to stone, as carrying the heavens had become too much for him to bear.
** The Learnean Hydra was a monster Hercules had to slay for his second labor, a nine-headed dragon, severing one of its heads would cause two to grow in its place, and one of them was immortal. Once the hero figured this out, he used a torch to cauterize each stump (or rather, [[Hypercompetent Sidekick|his nephew Iolaus did]]) and when he struck off the immortal head, buried it under a large rock. Supposedly, it remains there, seething in rage and hoping someone will eventually remove the rock.
* Most of the Greek Titans are bound in Tartarus. As are the giants. Likewise, the Hebrew Watchers are bound in "deepest darkness," rendered in some accounts as Tartarus. The Nephilim were either bound in Tartarus or drowned in the Great Flood. Depending on the source, Satan, too, is cast into Tartarus.
* Loki, the bad boy of [[Norse Mythology]], was chained to a rock with a serpent eternally dripping caustic venom in his face. His wife, Sigyn, stands over him catching the venom in a bowl, occasionally has to turn aside to empty the bowl before it overflows. When she turns aside to do so, or if she allows it to become overfull and spill, his spasms of pain cause earthquakes. (Considering how many bastard children he's supposed to have fathered with giantesses and the like, one wonders if it's ''entirely'' accidental.)
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* In [[Greek Mythology]], Tithonus is granted immortality, but not eternal youth. As a result, his body withers and his mind decays; he remains, for all time, forgotten in some hidden room, babbling endlessly. (In another story, he eventually turns into a cricket.)
* Another Greek myth example: When the gods want to swear the most solemn of oaths, they swear on the River Styx in the Underworld. Some authors simply have the oath unbreakable, but others say it can be broken. The consequences are harsh indeed: for a year the oathbreaker lies unable to eat, drink, move, ''or breathe'' (and Greek gods cannot die). The next nine years, in which they merely cannot associate with other deities at all, looks mild in comparison.
== Religion ==
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**** The show that featured Alice Cooper as a guest was [[The Muppet Show]], and the "Toothache All Over My Body" skit was possibly a way to [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|get crap past the radar]]. It starts out with a room full of what look like stalactites and stalagmites. One complains about a toothache all over his body, and the others repeat what he says, and at one point beating him to it, which he [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]]. Then the camera zooms out to reveal that {{spoiler|the talking stalactites and stalagmites were all 'teeth' of another stalagmite [[Mind Screw|which is ALSO]] [[Here We Go Again|complaining about a toothache]]. [[Don't Explain the Joke|The joke is, when you're a tooth, you get a toothache]].}}
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