4th Annual #NAMEthatBUTT: Round 2&3 Reveal! ONLY ONE ROUND LEFT.

So.
I'm a day late on this because life. But here are the owners of our last two buttacular rounds!

ROUND 2:

MARS

ROUND 3:

NEPTUNE

Both carved by Sansovino! 

And for the bonus -- 

The Giants' Staircase

(Scala dei Giganti)

Credit for these images once again goes to my parents, to whom I owe a huge debt for this year's season -- please don't reuse without permission!

And next week is Thanksgiving in the USofA, so I know half of my players are going to be busy with family -- and I will be too! -- but also participation this year has been on the low side, probably for a variety of factors political and otherwise, and which are maybe partially my own fault for starting the season so late! The end result is that there will be only ONE more round of #NAMEthatBUTT this year, and it will take place the week following Thanksgiving.

The FINAL BUTT will go up on November 29 and the FINAL REVEAL will be December 6th. So I'll give you guys a full week to get your last guesses in for the final butt AND you'll have 2+ weeks from today to cash in on the bonus #NAMEthatBOOK rounds on blog.amaliacarosella.com, which close with the final reveal of the final butt.

On the plus side this means I'll have plenty of butts still in reserve for next year's season -- and I can't wait to play with you again in 2017!

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Amazon | Barnes&Noble 

Amazon | Barnes&Noble

2nd Annual #NAMEthatBUTT: The Final Reveal and WINNERS!

The Round 6 Butt Belonged to...

*drumroll*

Everyone's favorite:

Neptune with a Hippocamp!

Michel Anguier

1652/1680s

bronze

(Seriously you guys who guessed Loki from the clues -- my mind was blown. Because holy crap they have more in common than I ever put together until now! Thanks for teaching me something!)

As you know, this was our final butt of the season -- and I, too, am sorry to see the end of this year's #NameThatButt bonanza, but never fear! Next year we'll be back with more mythological butts for your guessing pleasure! And in the meantime, we have some WINNERS!!!

RUNNERS UP: 

(winners of some fabulous #NamethatButt postcards for your mailing pleasure)

1. Amata
2. Henna
3. Melissa

email me your mailing addresses at amaliatdillin(at)gmail(dot)com by November 27th to claim your postcards!

And...

THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER:

(winner of EITHER an autographed copy of a Fate of the Gods book/a paper ARC of Postcards from Asgard, OR 2nd Annual #NAMEthatBUTT CHAMPION t-shirt. We will discuss butts and books, etc. PERHAPS A BUTT COLLAGE might even be in order. And also postcards. of course.)

1. *** Faithlessone/Emily! ***

email me at the above address by November 27th to claim your prize! 

Thank you so much to everyone who played -- and I hope to see you again next year for #NAMEthatBUTT, the 3rd edition!

I'll be back posting on the blog this Thursday and then it's HOLIDAY HIATUS time! Which, since I've once again forgotten to run a santa-hats-on-sculpture competition... might result in the return of Santa Theseus to the blog, for the duration.

---

*
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Diana Paz guest posts: What’s With All The Lady Snakes?

[note from Amalia: In honor of Diana Paz and her book birthday for TIMESPELL, she's telling us a little bit about the monsters of mythology -- more than a few of which appear in her book! Leave a comment and I'll send one lucky commenter a Timespell sticker and bookmark! Plus maybe a Forged by Fate something as well.]

In Greek mythology, animal-like creatures are part of nearly every legend. Whether it be centaurs, satyrs, or the famed Minotaur, Greeks of old were plagued by numerous part human, part beasts who reared their beastly (or humanoid) heads throughout the ancient Mediterranean world.

I’ve always been fascinated by these monster-humans, so when I thought up the kinds of beasts my main characters would be up against in my novel, Timespell, I knew they would be perfect. Creatures of Greek mythology could have the intelligence and cunning of a human, but with the fearsome horror of a mindless beast, all mixed into one. Not to mention, incorporating mythology into my fiction is always a win.

But as I researched, I noticed two things. One, there was a ton of snake action going on in ancient Greece, and two, most of the creatures involving snakes were either female or possessed typically feminine qualities.

This led me to wonder, what’s up with all the lady snakes in Greek mythology? Here are a few of the ones I found the most intriguing:

Gorgons

From wiki commons

The most famous of these being Medusa, she and her sisters, Stheno and Euryale, all three had writhing, living snakes growing like hair out of their skulls. Born of Phorcys and his sister Ceto, these monstresses turned men into stone with only a look. Although they're originally depicted as gruesome and horrific, Ovid gives Medusa’s origin story a tragic spin, and one I’m not sure I buy into. Medusa was originally a beautiful maiden who was raped in Athena’s temple by Poseidon. Athena became furious and punished Medusa by turning her hair into snakes while making her face so beautiful to behold that any man who looked at her would turn to stone. I don’t know about that one. Athena, goddess of wisdom… she doesn’t strike me as the type who would punish a maiden like this, but moreover, what about Medusa’s sisters, then? Ovid claims that only Medusa had snake hair, but it still doesn’t jive to me.

Erinyes

Known as the Furies in Roman mythology, the horrifying Erinyes didn’t make it into the first Timespell novel, but they will definitely show up throughout the series. Depending on the origin story, the Erinyes were either born of the blood of Uranus when his unmentionables were cast into the sea by his son, or they were born of Nyx. Sometimes referred to without number, the three named Erinyes mentioned in ancient texts are known as Alecto, Magaera, and Tisiphone. Sometimes depicted with bat wings or canine bodies, the one thing these ladies always have in common—other than having eyes that drip blood—is that their waists, arms, and sometimes hair are wrapped with snakes. They were in charge of meting out punishment, particularly for crimes against nature, such as patricide and matricide. They also oversaw netherworld torture.

Echidna

I really like this mega monstress, and as soon as I read about her I found a place for her in Timespell. Echidna was depicted as a beautiful, fair-cheeked nymph from the waist up, and from the waist down she was a snake—sometimes a two-tailed snake. She was often referred to as the mother of all monsters because she gave birth to so many. She was also a she-dragon, also known as a drakaina. There are so many cool things about her, as a monstress villain, particularly that she devours raw flesh. I love this idea for an evil creature… this lovely, sweet-faced nymph just horrifically chasing mortals down and eating them raw. That’s some scary stuff!

So, what is with all the snakes in Greek mythology and their tendency to be linked up with homicidal females? What is it about snakes and serpents that lend themselves to feminine horror? In looking for great monsters to include in my novel, I ended up with a lot of female snake monsters, and it left me wondering… what kind of godly psychology might have been behind the creation of all of these female snake beasts?

In TIMESPELL, the brash and impulsive Julia must team up with her sweet and straight-laced best friend, Angie, and the malicious and power-hungry Kaitlyn in order to keep the witch-like powers of her inheritance. But these powers come at a cost. The girls are bound to serve the Fates, and their first mission sends them back in time to Marie Antoinette’s Paris and eventually, into the chaos and war of the French Revolution.

Buy it now at Amazon, Barnes and Noble,

or your favorite book retailer!

And you can find more of Diana Paz at her website!

[Winner announced HERE on Friday -- comment before 11pm Thursday night! if you don't claim your prize within 7 days, I'll pick someone else!]

Faith and Mystery

Studying mythology is very much a journey of faith for me. I don't talk about it a lot on here, because I don't like to step on toes-- it isn't really about TRUTH, or one right way, and I've always felt faith and religion are and should be very private things. Whatever my beliefs, they're between me and the powers that be, and the same for yours. We don't have to agree. In fact, the world would be a much less interesting place if we did. I wouldn't be able to study both Classical Myth and Norse Myth along side my own Catholic upbringing, if everyone agreed, and where's the fun in that?

But as a Classicist (and interestingly enough I rarely feel this way about Norse myth), I often find myself wondering why in tarnation anyone would want to worship gods that were so cruel, so arbitrary, so generally unjust. What is there to honor in a god like Zeus, who rapes women as he pleases, or even Athena, the vaunted goddess of reason, when she throws it all out the window to curse Medusa for being unfortunate enough to draw Poseidon's eye. It's so easy to sit back and say we've evolved beyond that kind of thing, as a race. We've wised up enough to realize that worshipping a god like that makes no sense. There is no substance, maybe, or there is no justice, or there is no worth.

It's easy to think, in those unguarded moments of arrogance, that we are much more civilized now as a culture. But in America, we are by and large a culture firmly rooted in Christianity and Judeo-Christian myth. On the surface, the New Testament does present a more genteel deity than the gods that the ancient Greeks worshipped. The Olympians could be called a lot of things, but Champions of Forgiveness and Love they were not, and Jesus and His Father were something of a revelation in that respect. At least to the Greeks and the Romans (and perhaps that's why it took hold in the west, but the east maintains its own much older faiths still).

But if you look at the Old Testament, you can see the same shapes of those Olympians. Punishments were harsh, sacrifices were demanded, and God could be just as cruel to the people who didn't live by His rules as any Olympian. You don't need to look much beyond Genesis for examples: The punishment and banishment of Adam and Eve, Noah and the Flood, and if I had been Abraham, asked to sacrifice my own son to PROVE something to an all-knowing God, I don't think I'd have gone along with it myself. Beyond Genesis there is much, much more, and I could list them all day-- one of my personal favorites  is the story of Samson, in Judges (a strange thing to say, I know, because Samson is incredibly mean-tempered and cruel. Maybe he reminds me of Gaston in Beauty and the Beast, who I love to hate, but I also pity Samson and Delilah both).

In fact, I almost find reading the Old Testament to be even more disturbing than Greek Myth. Maybe because I'm not connected to the Greeks with my own faith. But maybe too, that's part of the point. MAYBE faith is supposed to be about the mystery. MAYBE if we aren't wondering if we're a little bit insane for trusting these crazy gods, we're doing it wrong. Maybe that's what faith is all about-- the mystery of whether or not you're completely sane for going through it all and trusting and believing, in spite of everything.

Of course, all the talk of mystery could just be the Catholic in me. But I think, for all the things that change, we will never give up faith in things that don't make sense.

On Aegeus as Poseidon

Last week I mentioned that my mythology textbook posits Aegeus is himself an aspect/stand-in for Poseidon. On the one hand, this makes so much sense it's ridiculous that I didn't see it myself, but on the other hand, I have a hard time imagining an Olympian god spending years on earth in mortal guise to be king of a city which honors a different higher power. Unless of course the Aegeus-as-Poseidon aspect only reaches as far as the little jaunt Aegeus makes to the oracle, and his stop in Troezan to impregnate Aethra, which then becomes a little bit too convenient, and leaves more questions than answers.

Here's what the book has to say, verbatim (full citation at the end of the post):

"Aegeus, like Erechtheus, is another form of the god Poseidon. This is indicated by his connection with the Aegean Sea and by the tradition that Poseidon rather than Aegeus was Theseus' father." (p. 555)

which is followed by this endnote:

"And by his link with the cult of Apollo Delphinius, i.e., Apollo as a god of spring, when the sea becomes navigable and the dolphins appear as portents of good sailing weather." (p. 571)

Aegeus meeting with Themis

But let's not forget that Aegeus was taken in by Medea the, uhm, witch, who supposedly murdered her own children to take revenge on Jason. Poseidon seems much too wily to let himself get roped into that kind of drama-- and he's already married to Amphitrite. While his sea-goddess wife might turn a blind eye to his affairs, here and there, I have yet to meet an Olympian goddess with the character it would take to overlook her husband's disappearance for decades to live as a mortal and take mortal wives. And why would he want to? Boredom? If he was only there as Aegeus long enough to have his pleasure with Aethra, what happened to the real Aegeus, and why does he remember Theseus as his son, later? Add to that the fact that the gods have NEVER had trouble getting male children off anyone, and I have a hard time seeing Aegeus, with his struggle to get a male heir, as any kind of godly aspect.

However. It does neatly solve the paternity problem of Theseus, and to argue that Aegeus could NOT have been an aspect of Poseidon imposes human limitations on gods which, for all any of us know, are able to do much, much, more than the occasional shape-shift to seduce a woman. Poseidon in particular, as god of the seas and Earth-Shaker, comes off as pretty mighty when it comes to godly powers. So then, perhaps this is some small bit of Poseidon, exploring the world of man and mortality-- not unlike Jesus-- with the whole of Poseidon back home in his underwater palace.

Again though, why King of Athens, after Poseidon lost out on the patronage of that city to Athena? It seems to me more likely Poseidon would be interested in spiting them than blessing them with a great hero, after something like that. This is something we've seen over and over again. The entire Trojan War is based off of a grudge match between the goddesses who Paris did NOT choose looking to take revenge on the entire city of Troy for the insult. And the fall of Crete can also be attributed to Poseidon teaching Minos a hard lesson for breaking trust and not giving the beautiful gift of a bull back to the gods in sacrifice as he promised.

I suppose Poseidon might have simply possessed Aegeus for the duration of his conjugal visit with Aethra, but I've never heard of another god taking over the body of a man in spirit, when he wanted to get it on, and if he did so, how would that have any effect on Theseus' paternity?

I can definitely see the author's point, regarding Aegeus' associations and his general sea-like presence, but I'm just not sure it takes into account everything else that we know about Aegeus, his relationship to Athens, Poseidon, and the behaviors of the gods. It does not seem consistent with the rest of the myths I've read by any means-- though perhaps I'm just reading too much from an historical viewpoint, with the assumption that these people, in some manner, lived, or must follow some internal logic. After all, if it is all just a story told around the hearth-fire, then why does it have to be anything but what it is? But if myth comes from some kernel of truth, if myth is the cultural memory of gods that have been given up for dead, no less true than any other religious story which we take as history now (like the birth of Jesus as an historical figure), then I need some more convincing than an association with Apollo and his association with the sea.

Source Cited:
Morford, Mark P.O., and Robert J. Lenardon. Classical Mythology: Seventh Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Affairs of the Gods: Poseidon and Aethra

This one is kind of tricky. Primary sources which state outright that Aethra and Poseidon had a bit of an affair are hard to come by, but Theseus is fairly well known as a son of Poseidon as well as Aegeus, so SOMEONE must have spread it around at some point. I expect the issue is that Theseus got pretty overlooked in later ages, in favor of Heracles, who became Hercules, so the stories didn't get preserved as effectively. Our biggest sources for Theseus (and as a result, also his mother, Aethra) are really Plutarch and Apollodorus, with a close second for Hyginus.

Poseidon/Neptune with a Pigeon Hat

Aethra was the daughter of Pittheus, who was the King of Troezan, and pretty well known as a wise and fair dude, which explains why Aegeus (King of Athens) would stop to chat with him on his way home, thereby being put to bed with Aethra which resulted in the dual-paternity Theseus when Poseidon also came calling that same night. (Though my textbook on mythology suggests that Aegeus himself simply WAS a form of the god Poseidon--I'm not sure how I feel about that kind of a statement.)

Plutarch being Plutarch of course discounts Theseus' immortal heritage, explaining it this way:

Aethra for some time concealed the true parentage of Theseus, and a report was given out by Pittheus that he was begotten by Neptune; for the Troezenians pay Neptune the highest veneration. He is their tutelar god; to him they offer all their first-fruits, and in his honour stamp their money with a trident. 

And as for Aethra's experience and Theseus's conception, he attributes it all to Aegeus:

Pittheus, therefore, taking advantage from the obscurity of the oracle, prevailed upon him [Aegeus], it is uncertain whether by persuasion or deceit, to lie with his daughter Aethra. 

The oracle in question is quoted by Plutarch as saying:

"Loose not the wine-skin foot, thou chief of men, 

Until to Athens thou art come again." 

Which seems to be most commonly interpreted as "don't get drunk until you get home" and if that's the case, Pittheus got Aegeus wasted, then put him to bed with Aethra on the sly. I can't imagine that if he was that drunk it would have been the most pleasant time ever for Aethra, in that case.

But Apollodorus pretty much ignores Aethra's, uh, time? with Aegeus altogether with just a line saying Theseus was born between them. So I turned to Hyginus' Fabulae which says:

Neptune and Aegeus, son of Pandion, one night in the shrine of Minerva both lay with Aethra, daughter of Pittheus. Neptune conceded the child to Aegeus. 

(Does it seem to anyone else that Athena gets a lot of people getting it on in her business?)

In any event, Aethra does not get the romanced version, with the love-shack beneath the shelter of a wave, nor is there any mention of her preferences in the myths. Her sole purpose is simply to mother Theseus and see that he is sent to Aegeus at the appropriate time. C'mon, Poseidon! You can do better than that! Where's the seduction?! Where's the disguising yourself as whoever Aethra might have been in love with to trick her into getting it on? Where's the CREATIVITY!

Poorly Done, Poseidon. 1 out of 5 stars for total LAMENESS of courtship.

So what do you think-- Does this qualify as an affair of the gods or not? Are you in the Plutarch rumor camp, or the Hyginus Aethra-had-a-busy-night party?

Affairs of the Gods: Poseidon and Tyro

As Valerie pointed out in her fabulous guest post last week, Zeus wasn't the only god who got it on wherever and with whomever he wished. Poseidon had his fair share of indiscretions-- one of which included Tyro.

Poseidon and his Mighty Beard

Tyro was in love with a river god, maybe to the point of obsession. But Poseidon, not unlike Zeus, had no qualms about shape-shifting if it meant he got his way. So what did he do? According to Apollodorus (1.9.8):

Now Tyro, daughter of Salmoneus and Alcidice, was brought up by Cretheus, brother of Salmoneus, and conceived a passion for the river Enipeus, and often would she hie to its running waters and utter her plaint to them. But Poseidon in the likeness of Enipeus lay with her, and she secretly gave birth to twin sons, whom she exposed.

But Homer gave us a much kinder, even romantic, account of Poseidon's affair with Tyro in the Odyssey (Sometimes I'm almost persuaded that Poseidon wasn't half bad, as far as Greek gods go. uhm. kind of.):

She [Tyro] fell in love with the river Enipeus who is much the most beautiful river in the whole world. Once when she was taking a walk by his side as usual, Neptune, disguised as her lover, lay with her at the mouth of the river, and a huge blue wave arched itself like a mountain over them to hide both woman and god, whereon he loosed her virgin girdle and laid her in a deep slumber. When the god had accomplished the deed of love, he took her hand in his own and said, 'Tyro, rejoice in all good will; the embraces of the gods are not fruitless, and you will have fine twins about this time twelve months. Take great care of them. I am Neptune, so now go home, but hold your tongue and do not tell any one.'

The problem with all of this, of course, is that it's still incredibly deceitful. But I suppose if she thought she was making love with the River (or did he put her to sleep and then make love to her?) then at least she must have rejoiced in her unrequited love being fulfilled at last... Maybe.

I've got to admit that I do love the image of the giant blue wave arching itself over the two of them as a little love shack. And as seductions and rapes go, this one isn't SO terrible, aside from the usual deadbeat dad behavior after the fact, and the whole pretending to be someone else to get in her pant--er, skirt charade. And, wonder of wonders, aside from being knocked up, Tyro didn't get smote by any other gods or goddesses for the trouble Poseidon brought her! (In this instance, I think Tyro won the lottery--Poseidon's consort/wife Amphitrite did not seem NEARLY as interested in taking revenge on the women he seduced.)

Tyro went on to marry Cretheus and have other children, most notably Aeson who fathered Jason (we'll come back to this in a moment).

The twins she bore Poseidon were Pelias and Neleus, and as you might imagine, they survived their exposure to grow up and cause trouble in the usual heroic style. Learning their true heritage and killing some people while earning the enmity of the gods. Pelias in particular seemed to get on Hera's bad side, which as you might have gathered by now isn't typically the BEST idea.

According to Apollodorus, Neleus founded Pylos, and was the father of Nestor, a hero/wise-old-king from the Iliad. At the opposite end of Greece, Pelias wound up in Thessaly where he became King of Iolcus and eventually sent Jason (his half-brother's son--does that make him a half-nephew of Pelias?) on his famous quest for the Golden Fleece with the Argonauts.

Like I said. Trouble in the usual heroic style.

And just because I think it's interesting-- Aeson married the daughter of Autolycus (himself a son of Hermes, and known for his skills as a thief*), Polymede. And Autolycus's other daughter, Anticlea married Laertes, and fathered Odysseus, THEREBY making Jason and Odysseus first cousins.

Now you know!

*Yes. Yes, Autolycus, who was played by Bruce Campbell when KEVIN SORBO WAS Hercules.

Affairs of the Gods: No Sex in Athena's Room!

(As a special treat today, I offer you a most excellent guest post, written by the fabulous Valerie of As The Moon Climbs! You can check out her poetry and flash fiction on her blog, and I trust that you are all already following her on twitter? RIGHT? If not, after this post you will be persuaded, I'm sure.)


It's easy to talk about the many, many, MANY times that Zeus fooled around and got some poor girl in trouble--forget a little black book, the guy needed a whole set of encyclopedia-sized tomes to keep track. But by no means was he the only god sowing his wild ambrosia whenever, however, and--unfortunately--wherever he darn well pleased.

Poseidon's Backside

While not as, ahem, prolific in his conquests as his brother, Poseidon did his fair share of getting around. Most famously, he fathered Polyphemus, the Cyclops that Odysseus blinded, and who called on his dad for revenge and basically caused the rest of the Odyssey to play out as it did. Whoops! Moral of the story: don't mess with the dude whose dad controls 2/3 of the planet.

But a tale from Ovid's Metamorphoses gives a twist to another story by explaining how it all began, namely the tale of Medusa and her sibilant snaky locks. You probably know about how Perseus borrowed a shiny shield, snuck into her cave and tricked her into turning herself into stone by looking at her own reflection. But where did she get that snake hair in the first place? Let's go to the source:

"Medusa once had charms; to gain her love 

 A rival crowd of envious lovers strove. 

They, who have seen her, own, they ne'er did trace 

More moving features in a sweeter face. 

Yet above all, her length of hair, they own, 

In golden ringlets wav'd, and graceful shone."

So she was totally smokin' hot at one point, with the kind of hair that most people can't get with a closet full of beauty products. No snakes in sight. What happened?

"Her Neptune saw, and with such beauties fir'd, 

Resolv'd to compass, what his soul desir'd."

Oh, Poseidon, you sly dog. But just gettin' your freak on with a lady usually wasn't enough to get her punished, right?

"In chaste Minerva's fane, he, lustful, stay'd, 

And seiz'd, and rifled the young, blushing maid."

Ah, there it is, in 17th century Olde Timey Speak: they did the dirty deed in Athena's temple. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want my uncle putting the moves on someone in my room, either. And Medusa was supposedly a priestess of Athena at the time, which of course only made the problem worse, what with the whole mandatory virginity clause. So what did Athena do?

"The bashful Goddess turn'd her eyes away, 

Nor durst such bold impurity survey; 

But on the ravish'd virgin vengeance takes, 

Her shining hair is chang'd to hissing snakes. 

These in her Aegis Pallas joys to bear, 

The hissing snakes her foes more sure ensnare, 

Than they did lovers once, when shining hair. "

And there you have it. Because Poseidon couldn't keep his trouser snake in his, er--well, he probably wasn't wearing anything because he was god of the OCEAN, but you get the point--poor Medusa ended up with snakes on her head. She then experienced what is arguably the longest pregnancy ever because it wasn't until Perseus cut off her head that two kids jumped out, one of which was the fabled Pegasus.

On the plus side, she got to grace Athena's shield as a really creepy emblem. The downside: obstacle course of statues whenever she had to leave her cave to potty.

Meanwhile, Poseidon was off catching some gnarly waves en route to his next conquest. He may or may not have high-fived a few dolphins along the way, but Ovid is suspiciously silent on the subject so we'll just have to imagine it.