The Bee Priestess

Althaia, the eldest daughter of Lander and Phaedra Adamos, explores the changes from childhood to womanhood in first century Greece. Restrained by cultural rules and family expectations, Althaia faces her father and overbearing mother when she falls in love with a Roman soldier. As occupiers, Roman soldiers were viewed with contempt by the Greeks and to fall in love with one is seen as a betrayal to the family reputation. Despite this, Althaia cannot help herself and the result is both unexpected and tragic. Althaia's mother, Phaedra, does not take this well and uses her considerable influence with Lander Adamos to 'gift' her daughter to the goddess Aphrodite as a temple priestess at Acrocorinth in Corinth. Here begins Thaia's journey to the underworld of her own suffering and eventually triumph as she is mentored in beekeeping and the healing arts, exploring the complex natural world and how elements of this can heal and strengthen the human body and soul. She becomes seasoned in her craft as she is called upon to meet the pox pandemic raging in the Roman Empire. Though Althaia loses her childhood friends and family as she moves into womanhood, she eventually builds new relationships, has new experiences, and is transformed from her own trauma - becoming a powerful Bee Priestess in Ancient Greece.