The Discontented Wife and Other Stories: Hypergamy the Priestess, #3

By Freddie T. Camel

Tales of love and sex in Ancient Greece.

 

In the ancient Greek city of Iolcos, there is a Temple of Aphrodite. Unlike other temples, it has only one occupant – Hypergamy the priestess. She is beautiful and mysterious, a woman with a secret past who arrived in the city years earlier and became a servant of the Goddess of Love. These are three of her stories.

 

Book length: approx. 79 pages

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kingspawn Publishers
• Release date: Apr 15, 2024
• ISBN: 9798223919827

Book preview

1

The Discontented Wife

THE COUPLE TO be married was deemed to be a suitable match by the city of Iolcos. Anamenos was a thirty-year-old man who had been made partner in his father’s olive trading business; Lantana was twenty and the second daughter of a celebrated shipbuilder. In terms of beauty, neither were considered outstanding examples of their sex. Anamenos was somewhat pudgy with a round face and friendly smile, while Lantana was thin and angular and hardly smiled at all. But they were both healthy and from good backgrounds, so neither family had any serious objections. The two were married by a priestess of Hera who sacrificed a swan as part of the ritual. According to its entrails, there would be many children from this union.

That was more than a year ago.

Lantana had performed her wifely duty in bed many times and still her monthly bleeding came as regularly as the phases of the moon. She tried prayers, sacrifices, ointments and medicines, but without success. Her womb stayed empty and her husband’s family were becoming increasingly hostile at the lack of an heir, especially her father-in-law. There were rumours that she was barren, which Lantana found incredibly unfair. Logically, it was just as likely to be her husband whose seed was failing, and yet she was the one seen as jeopardising the marriage.

One day, Lantana’s elder sister, who was also married and had two healthy children, made a chance remark that at first Lantana found ridiculous: ‘Maybe you and your husband need better sex!’ It was no secret that Lantana found sexual intercourse dreary and repetitive, but she could not see what that had to do with fecundity. Still, the remark kept coming back to her and finally she thought, ‘What have I got to lose?’ So, late one morning, Lantana covered her head with a hooded cloak and took a walk to the west quarter of Iolcos to visit the Temple of Aphrodite.

The moment Lantana set eyes on it, she nearly turned on her heel and went home. Unlike the impressive pillars and triangular façade of the Temple of Hera, this building was essentially a large square block with double doors and narrow ventilation slits along the top near the roof. There was a triangular portico above the doorway held up by a pillar on either side and, at present, one of the double doors was standing open. As Lantana went closer, she could see that the white walls on either side of the doors had pillars painted on them. Only the carved seashell in the triangle of the portico indicated that this place belonged to Aphrodite. Lantana stared at the building and shook her head. She had seen shrines in people’s houses that were more impressive than this.

Then a woman stepped out through the open doorway.

Lantana’s mouth literally dropped open. The priestess who stood on the step before her was tall with green eyes and black hair, immaculate in her white robe and wearing a grey cloak fastened at the shoulder. There was something imperious in her bearing, yet the way she loosely held a ring of three keys in her long-fingered hand was hypnotizingly sensuous. This was easily the most beautiful woman Lantana had ever set eyes on.

‘Hello,’ said the priestess.

Lantana returned the nod without speaking. The priestess reached in and pulled the door to, closing the double doors. The keys clinked as she inserted one into the lock and turned it. Lantana gasped in dismay.

‘You’re closing the temple?’ she said.

The priestess turned, came down the two steps and stood before the other woman.

‘Did you really want to go in?’ she said.

‘Well, I...’ Lantana stammered. ‘I don’t know.’

‘What’s your name?’

‘Lantana.’

‘Well, Lantana ... it’s been a quiet morning and as the weather is not too hot, I thought it would be pleasant to take a walk.’

‘Oh...’

‘Would you like to join me?’

‘Yes!’

Lantana blushed. Her eagerness was transparent and she looked at the ground in embarrassment. A friendly hand gave her upper arm a squeeze.

‘Relax,’ said the priestess. ‘We’ll go for a walk, find somewhere nice to sit, and then you can tell me why you came to the temple. All right?’

Lantana nodded.

‘Good,’ said the priestess. ‘I’m Hypergamy, by the way.’

‘It’s lovely to meet you.’

‘I hope so.’

‘I beg your pardon?’

The priestess seemed about to say something, then smiled instead.

‘This way,’ she said, and she began to walk down the street.

***

Iolcos was built on coastline that curved to form a natural bay for the waters stretching out towards the Gulf of Pagasetica, which itself led to the Great Sea. To the east side of the city were rocks and cliffs, but the west offered a gentler way to travel inland. As you left the residential areas, the land opened up into undulating slopes of dry grass and the odd bald patches of sand and limestone. The two women climbed the sandy track and made their way through the knee-high grass until they reached the top of a sloping ridge. Hypergamy stopped, took in a lungful of air and stretched out her arms.

‘Isn’t it magnificent?’ she said with a smile.

Lantana was breathless from the effort of the climb, but she nodded and returned the smile. The view was indeed magnificent. From where they stood, you could see the huge expanse of water which even on this cloudy day was the deepest shade of blue. The sails of ships were little squares of white and the land extended dark green fingers around it, off into the distance. It occurred to Lantana that even the legendary Jason’s Argo would have looked as small and fragile as these ships when it sailed from the port of Iolcos five hundred years ago.

The priestess was looking for a spot where she could sit out of the wind while still enjoying the view. There was an overhang of grass which formed a natural windbreak, so she unfastened her cloak and laid it down as a blanket on the ground. Her bare arms looked smooth and elegant and Lantana felt bony and awkward in comparison. Feeling self-conscious, she unhooked her own cloak and laid it next to the priestess’s.

The two women got comfortable, leaning back on their elbows with their legs stretched out in front of them. The breeze ruffled the long, dry grass and whispered over the slopes. Hypergamy bent forward and started untying one of her sandals. Lantana found herself watching her in fascination, then realised she was staring and felt her face redden. She ransacked her mind for something to say.

‘So what do you think?’ she said, her voice sounding brittle to