King Midas was a mythical king of Phrygia who was gifted by the god Dionysus to turn anything he touched into gold. Midas enjoyed this "blessing at first", but things started to shift as soon as he held a feast. When Midas tried to eat or drink, all of his meals were turned to gold due to his touch. Things only got worse when (according to Nathaniel Hawthorne) he tried to comfort his daughter after she was upset by the roses (that Midas turned to gold) only to touch her causing her to become a golden statue. At this point, Midas prayed to Dionysus for his powers to be removed, so the god told the king how to get rid of the "golden touch". Upon hearing the instructions, Midas washed his hands in the river Pactolus, reversing all the effects of this "cursed blessing". This (according to the story) explains why the Pactolus river was filled with gold.

Note: Originally, my submission for the contest was of Tantalus due to being the namesake of Tantalum, but when it was deemed "unrelated", I remembered another Greek myth that has to do with the periodic table. Gold is on the Periodic Table, and though it seems cliché, I thought this skin might work!