The Legend Of Pope Joan (Trilogy) is a gender-bending, fast-paced medieval tale about the woman who became Pope. PART 2. Athens Joan, now living as a seminarian in Athens, starts to grow up and embrace what it really means to live as a man for good. She works diligently to look, think and 'feel' like a male - as simply being a 'woman in disguise' would be too dangerous and doomed to fail. Although this process is challenging, her overarching desire to become a scholarly priest also appears to be God's will for her, so the sacrifice of her femininity feels worth it. But when Joan meets a young woman named Thea, every decision she has made thus far is called into question.