Round Two REVEAL! and NAME THAT BUTT Round THREE begins NOW!

Round Two's Butt belonged to:

*drumroll*

The Goddess of the Hunt, herself: 

ARTEMIS!

(This particular sculpture is titled Diana and a Hound, by Paul Manship! In person, it feels pretty Art Deco, which is fitting since it's from 1925.)

Pat yourself on the back if you guessed this one with just the obscured butt and the first clue! 

NOW! ROUND THREE!!!

The Rules:

• I post a butt and ONE clue, you guess who that butt belongs to in the comments. If you guess right, and you're the first person who does, you get 7.5 points. 
• If you guess right after someone else already has guessed correctly, you get 5 points. 
• The following Friday, I post the FULL backside, with another clue or two, and you may guess again. 
• If you guess correctly on Friday or later, you only get 2.5 points. 
• The next Tuesday, the answer is revealed, with a frontal view of the sculpture in question, and I'll keep a running tally of correct answers, with occasional updates of who is "winning." 
• For Olympians, Greek AND Roman names are acceptable, because half of these sculptures were probably titled with their Roman names but in my head, they immediately translate to the Greek, and that's how I remember them when I'm organizing my photos.
• The game will continue for as long as I have photographs of backsides to share, but a new NAME THAT BUTT may not be posted every week, depending on Things. 

The Butt:

Your Clue:

1) This luscious behind was the subject of more than just wolf-whistling in its day. 

BONUS clue because last week was so hard and I want you guys to get ALL THE POINTS:

2) The Hunter becomes the Hunted Butt! 

And you have until 11:59pm Eastern on August 1st to get your full five points!

NAME THAT BUTT! Round Two, Second Chance!

The Rules:

• I post a butt and ONE clue, you guess who that butt belongs to in the comments. If you guess right, and you're the first person who does, you get 7.5 points. 
• If you guess right after someone else already has guessed correctly, you get 5 points. 
• The following Friday, I post the FULL backside, with another clue or two, and you may guess again. 
• If you guess correctly on Friday or later, you only get 2.5 points. 
• The next Tuesday, the answer is revealed, with a frontal view of the sculpture in question, and I'll keep a running tally of correct answers, with occasional updates of who is "winning." 
• For Olympians, Greek AND Roman names are acceptable, because half of these sculptures were probably titled with their Roman names but in my head, they immediately translate to the Greek, and that's how I remember them when I'm organizing my photos.
• The game will continue for as long as I have photographs of backsides to share, but a new NAME THAT BUTT may not be posted every week, depending on Things. 
• **NEW** For TODAY'S BUTT, if you also correctly guess the title and artist of the sculpture in question, you can earn a BONUS 2.5 points.

Ready for the full backside and a few more clues?

photo © me!

Double the backsides, double the fun! So, two more clues:

2) Zeus once took on this shapely buttocks for his own to engage in a seduction.
3) If this bottom isn't an expert at mooning, no other butt ever will be.

You've got until Monday, July 29 at 11:59pm Eastern to guess for your 2.5 points!

NB: Round THREE's post will also be Round TWO's Reveal, and it is going live at 8:30am Eastern on July 30th so that more than just the night owls have a chance to take the first guess and the top spot!

NAME THAT BUTT, Round Two, FIGHT!

The Rules:

• I post a butt and ONE clue, you guess who that butt belongs to in the comments. If you guess right, and you're the first person who does, you get 7.5 points. (Comments are moderated!)
• If you guess right after someone else already has guessed correctly, you get 5 points. 
• The following Friday, I post the FULL backside, with another clue or two, and you may guess again. 
• If you guess correctly on Friday or later, you only get 2.5 points. 
• The next Tuesday, the answer is revealed, with a frontal view of the sculpture in question, and I'll keep a running tally of correct answers, with occasional updates of who is "winning." 
• For Olympians, Greek AND Roman names are acceptable, because half of these sculptures were probably titled with their Roman names but in my head, they immediately translate to the Greek, and that's how I remember them when I'm organizing my photos.
• The game will continue for as long as I have photographs of backsides to share, but a new NAME THAT BUTT may not be posted every week, depending on Things. 

AND This Week's BUTT:

photo © me!

And Your Clue:

1) This half-hidden hiney appears to have authored a number of deaths, resulting in more than one constellation.

Guess away! You have until Thursday, July 25th 11:59pm Eastern to get your full 5 points!

(Our current leader in points is Magell! There's plenty of time to dethrone him and claim the title of COMMANDER OF BUTTS! And there will be a prize now, of some sort, at the game's end, whether it will be book-related or gift-card related or something just plain silly is still undecided.)

ETA: RIN ADAMS! YOU won THE SECRET HISTORY giveaway! Email me to claim your prize: amaliatdillin(at)gmail(dot)com

Theodora's Pagan Influences, Guest Post from Stephanie Thornton!

one of these could be yours!

Looking for NAME THAT BUTT? Klikky Klikky!

Today we have author-friend Stephanie Thornton to talk a little bit about the state of religion in the Byzantine Empire. Her debut, THE SECRET HISTORY: A Novel of Empress Theodora, is available now, and let me tell you -- Stephanie's talent for completely capturing the atmosphere and culture of times gone by makes for a stunning reading experience. 

Read her post and leave a comment below before 11pm Eastern on July 22nd to enter to win a copy of Stephanie's book AND a Byzantine Coin! I'll draw a name, and post it here on Tuesday the 23rd, so be sure to check back!

One of the strangest things to wrap my mind around when I started writing The Secret History: A Novel of Empress Theodora, was the strange state of religion during Theodora’s time. I say strange because one would think that 6^th century Constantinople was very Christian—after all, Constantine the Great had adopted the Christian cross as his standard and won the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 CE—but although the Roman empire was decidedly Christian, pagan influences in art and culture still abounded.

One of my favorite examples of this comes from the mosaics of the ancient church in Qsar-Libya. The city was built by Justinian for Theodora, but some of the church’s mosaics are decidedly pagan, including a satyr and one of Bacchus indulging in his favorite pastime: drinking wine.

I also encountered the pagan art influences firsthand when I went to the mosaic museum in Constantinople and had a chance to see the mosaics Theodora would actually have walked on. (Which was amazing, by the way). Alongside violent hunting scenes were Bellerophon fighting the Chimera, griffins, and Dionysus riding on Pan’s shoulders. Justinian and Theodora might have seen these on their way to the grand Hagia Sophia church to worship, and of course, they wouldn’t have batted an eye.

All that to say, pagans were looked down upon and even persecuted in the Eastern Roman (or as we call it today, Byzantine) empire. Theodora’s arch-nemesis, John the Cappadocian, was often slandered as a pagan, and Procopius, the eminent historian during Theodora’s reign, claimed that her best friend Antonina came from a family who consorted with sorcerers (which I was able to have some fun with). Essentially, the world Theodora lived in was still in flux religiously, which made it all the more interesting to study!

More About Stephanie

Stephanie Thornton is a writer and history teacher who has been obsessed with infamous women from ancient history since she was twelve. She lives with her husband and daughter in Alaska, where she is at work on her next novel.

In addition to Stephanie’s blog, you can find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

ETA: The giveaway for the BOOK is international, but the coin can only be shipped US Only, so if you are an international person, you'll be winning the book ONLY. 

Name That Butt, Round One REVEAL!

Two blogposts today because I did not want to take away from Stephanie Thornton's fabulous guestpost!

THE LAST BUTT WAS:
*drumroll*

photo © me!

HERMES!

So to recap, and a SLIGHT Tweak on the rules for next time (changes are in bold!):

• I post a butt and ONE clue, you guess who that butt belongs to in the comments. If you guess right, and you're the first person who does, you get 7.5 points. 
• If you guess right after someone else already has guessed correctly, you get 5 points. 
• The following Friday, I post the FULL backside, with another clue or two, and you may guess again. 
• If you guess correctly on Friday or later, you only get 2.5 points. 
• The next Tuesday, the answer is revealed, with a frontal view of the sculpture in question, and I'll keep a running tally of correct answers, with occasional updates of who is "winning." 
• For Olympians, Greek AND Roman names are acceptable, because half of these sculptures were probably titled with their Roman names but in my head, they immediately translate to the Greek, and that's how I remember them when I'm organizing my photos.
• The game will continue for as long as I have photographs of backsides to share, but a new NAME THAT BUTT may not be posted every week, depending on Things. 
• Comments are Moderated!! So don't worry if you don't see the comment go live. I'm holding it back so no one can steal your guess!

What can I say? You all were just too good at naming that butt last week! Time to up the ante a little and give you a BIT more of a challenge. Again, so as not to compete with Steph's guest post, The NEXT BUTT will be posted on Tuesday, July 23rd, so get those guessing pants washed and ready to wear!

Name That Butt Round 1, Second Chance!

TO RECAP:

• I post a butt and some clues on TUESDAY, you guess who that butt belongs to in the comments. If you guess right, and you're the first person who does, you get 7.5 points. 
• If you guess right after someone else already has guessed correctly, you get 5 points. 
• The following Friday, I post the FULL backside, and you may guess again. (that means today!)
• If you guess correctly on Friday or later, you only get 2.5 points. 
• The next Tuesday, the answer is revealed, with a frontal view of the sculpture in question, and I'll keep a running tally of correct answers, with occasional updates of who is "winning." 
• For Olympians, Greek AND Roman names are acceptable, because half of these sculptures were probably titled with their Roman names but in my head, they immediately translate to the Greek, and that's how I remember them when I'm organizing my photos.
• The game will continue for as long as I have photographs of backsides to share, but a new NAME THAT BUTT may not be posted every week, depending on Things. 
• Comments are now Moderated! I'll post them for you, but don't worry, I'm keeping score carefully!

The FULL backside!

image © Amalia Dillin!

Those of you who guessed based on that dimpled hiney in the last post should know whether you were right or wrong now that you have the full backside! Congratulations or, feel free to guess again! Those of you who are late to the game, there's still time to guess! You've got until Monday July 15th, 11:59pm Eastern to get half the points! And remember, this is a running tally to the end of the game, so there's still time to catch back up in round two and beyond.

NAME THAT MYTHICAL BUTT!

You read the title of this post correctly. Today, in celebration of my return to blogging, I am beginning a new feature on the blog. And it is all about butts. And mythology, of course. And sculpture, because I love sculpture so much (as we have discussed in the past, I think).

So here is the deal. When it is NAME THAT BUTT time, I will post a photograph of a backside, along with a series of clues, and you will guess to whom that backside belongs in the comments. A correct guess will net you 5 points. I will reveal the COMPLETE photograph, on the following Friday, and you may continue to guess, but a correct guess after the complete photo is revealed will result in only 2.5 points. Because, come on. On the following Tuesday, I will post the answer to the previous Tuesday's NAME THAT BUTT, and you may all congratulate yourselves on guessing correctly, because duh, if you have been reading this blog all this time, you already know your mythological backsides, I'm sure! There may or may not be prizes at some point, based on a running tally of who has the most correct guesses (and a bonus 2.5 points goes to the person who guesses correctly FIRST via timestamp) depending, but they will be small silly things, and mostly the result of me just being overly excited about NAME THAT BUTT as a thing, and even more excited that you all are embracing it, if, in fact, you actually DO embrace it, and with the internet being what it is -- one never knows!

So. TO RECAP:

• I post a butt and some clues, you guess who that butt belongs to in the comments. If you guess right, and you're the first person who does, you get 7.5 points. 
• If you guess right after someone else already has guessed correctly, you get 5 points. 
• The following Friday, I post the FULL backside, and you may guess again. 
• If you guess correctly on Friday or later, you only get 2.5 points. 
• The next Tuesday, the answer is revealed, with a frontal view of the sculpture in question, and I'll keep a running tally of correct answers, with occasional updates of who is "winning." 
• For Olympians, Greek AND Roman names are acceptable, because half of these sculptures were probably titled with their Roman names but in my head, they immediately translate to the Greek, and that's how I remember them when I'm organizing my photos.
• The game will continue for as long as I have photographs of backsides to share, but a new NAME THAT BUTT may not be posted every week, depending on Things. 

SO, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, Today's NAME THAT BUTT photo:

photo © Amalia Dillin!

Your Clues:

1) More often than not, when the gods want something stolen, this handsome butt is sent to get the job done.
2) Even during war, the backside in question always has safe passage.
3) These shapely buttocks may be the great-grandparent of Odysseus' own.

You have until THURSDAY, July 11 at 11:59pm Eastern to get your guesses in!