Vicky Alvear Shecter QUOTES

1 " You must make a choice,” the Goddess said.

“Is that my only choice – to choose between men?” I asked. “I want what Mother had!”

“Your mother chose two men,” she said with light laughter.

“No! She chose independence for her country. She chose power and freedom,” I yelled.

Almost as if in response, a pulsating energy moved up from the ground into my bare feet. It thrummed up my body and radiated out in a bright light, first from my toes, then from my fingertips, then the top of my head.

“I choose power,” I said. “I choose freedom. "

― Vicky Alvear Shecter , Cleopatra's Moon

2 " I especially treasured my glimpses of Mother, Queen Cleopatra VII. She sat on a golden throne, looking as resplendent as one of the giant marble statues guarding the tombs of the Old Ones. Diamonds twinkled in a jungle of black braids on her ceremonial wig. She wore a diadem with three rearing snakes and a golden broad collar, shining with lapis lazuli, carnelian, and emeralds, over her golden, form-fitting pleated gown. In one hand, she held a golden ankh of life, while the other clasped the striped crook and flail of her divine rulership. Her stillness radiated power, like a lioness pausing before the pounce. It left me breathless with awe. "

― Vicky Alvear Shecter , Cleopatra's Moon

3 " I groaned inwardly, hating how men blamed their own lusts on women’s “magic. "

― Vicky Alvear Shecter , Cleopatra's Moon

4 " What caused the gods to fall upon my family like starved lions in a Roman arena? "

― Vicky Alvear Shecter , Cleopatra's Moon

5 " And to me, they gave a helmet of invisibility.
Sometimes my gift was called the "cap" of invisibility. Seriously? Caps are what baseball players wear. Caps are cute. Caps are silly. The king of the underworld does not wear a "cap". It's a helmet, people.
You wouldn't call Poseidon's trident a "shrimp fork," would you? Or Zeus's lightning bolts, "sparklers"? So don't let me hear you say "cap." Furthermore, I don't want to hear anything about some wizard-boy's "Cloak of Invisibility," either. Mine came first. "

― Vicky Alvear Shecter , Hades Speaks!: A Guide to the Underworld by the Greek God of the Dead

6 " As king of the underworld, I have more important things to do.
Like what, you ask?
Well, like coming up with new punishments for evil-doers in the dungeons of Tartaros, for one. And also scouring every inch of this place to make sure that no sons of Zeus—or Poseidon, for that matter (I'm looking at you, Percy Jackson)—sneak into my realm to create yet more havoc. "

― Vicky Alvear Shecter , Hades Speaks!: A Guide to the Underworld by the Greek God of the Dead

7 " Most people picture my dog with three heads, but that is wrong, wrong, wrong. He is way cooler than that. Some poets claimed he had fifty heads and some poets called him the "hundred-headed" beast. Others described him with not only multiple heads, but with a serpent's tail, a mane of snakes, and lion's paws.
Whatever. I call him awesome. "

― Vicky Alvear Shecter , Hades Speaks!: A Guide to the Underworld by the Greek God of the Dead

8 " Alexandros’s baiting and my experience at the Jewish temple opened my eyes to the fact that most men thought women inferior. After all, I had grown up under the shadow of the most powerful woman in the world. I saw great men prostrate themselves at her feet. I worshipped at the altar of the greatest Goddess of All, Isis. "

― Vicky Alvear Shecter , Cleopatra's Moon

9 " I was a king. A ruler. I did not bag and tag humans like some evil hunter whenever I heard my name. I let my monstrous minions to that. "

― Vicky Alvear Shecter , Hades Speaks!: A Guide to the Underworld by the Greek God of the Dead

10 " I stared at the sea, trying to breathe, trying to understand how I came to be here. A motherless daughter, and now a brotherless sister. How was it that I went from a princess of Egypt — the daughter of the most powerful queen in the world — to a prisoner of Rome, and now the bride of a petty ruler in the scrubs of Africa? I closed my eyes, remembering Mother’s soft breath on my ear as she whispered, “You have the heart of a great and powerful queen.” Her last words to me. I spent my whole life trying to live up to them. But I failed. I lost everything, lost every single person I ever loved. Why? Why have you cursed me? I asked the gods. Why have you cursed my family? But no answer came. I heard only the creaking of ropes, the flapping of sails, the splash of water against the hull. "

― Vicky Alvear Shecter , Cleopatra's Moon

11 " That blur of light that just zoomed past us, by the way, is Hermes. I don't like that boy—and not just because he is a son of Zeus. He's the one who brings my wife to the upper world when it's time for her to visit her mom, Demeter (deh-mee-ter). Because of that job, Hermes ended up escorting all the dead to my realm. Not like they needed an escort, but still. It gave the hyperactive, thieving godling something to do. (Yeah, he's the god of thieves, so of course he's Zeus's son.) "

― Vicky Alvear Shecter , Hades Speaks!: A Guide to the Underworld by the Greek God of the Dead

12 " Still, the shock of her suicide created such a jolt in my being that huge chunks of memory fell away, like the details of a nightmare that fade into mist, leaving only the horror intact. Some images, though, remained: Alexandros’s glazed eyes, staring into nothing for hours. Ptolly putting his thumb in his mouth even though he had long ago stopped the habit. The wind moving through the nearly abandoned palace, echoing like soft moans of grief. Zosima later said that I did not speak for days. "

― Vicky Alvear Shecter , Cleopatra's Moon

13 " The temple column grew wider, taller, blocking out the sky. “If we don’t perform the sacred rites with the Priest of Anubis,” I said, “Father’s and Mother’s kas will not travel to the Realm of Osiris. Their spirits will haunt you until even Fortuna turns from you in disgust. You do not know the power of the dead in Egypt.” Rage and fear fought for dominance on Octavianus’s face. I pressed my advantage. “Without the rites, their restless spirits will call on all of the angry and evil spirits of the dead, deep within the secret burial places of this ancient land, and … and …” “Stop!” Agrippa ordered. “Let them have their ceremonies,” he whispered to Octavianus. “You cannot start your reign here by angering their gods.” “The ship leaves in three days,” Octavianus said through clenched teeth. “And these bastards will be on it. "

― Vicky Alvear Shecter , Cleopatra's Moon

14 " Oh, also, do not eat any of the luscious pomeganates that grow near my palace, because if you do, you will never return to the land of the living. Why rush things, right? "

― Vicky Alvear Shecter , Hades Speaks!: A Guide to the Underworld by the Greek God of the Dead

15 " As I said, my wife's mother is Demeter, the earth goddess of plants and grain. She is a Freak. Of. Nature. And I mean that literally, as you will soon see. Also, she suffers from Possessive Mother Syndrome. "

― Vicky Alvear Shecter , Hades Speaks!: A Guide to the Underworld by the Greek God of the Dead

16 " Livia frowned and narrowed her eyes at me, a look that could melt a Roman broadsword. It only made me want to raise my chin higher. Her stare of dominance was good, but it did not come anywhere near Mother’s Horus stare. "

― Vicky Alvear Shecter , Cleopatra's Moon

17 " The important question is not ‘Why was I saved?’ but ‘What will I do with the life that the gods decided to spare?’“ I was taken aback by his intensity, especially since he always seemed so calm and unflappable. “You are a Stoic, then,” I muttered, remembering Euphronius’s lessons. "

― Vicky Alvear Shecter , Cleopatra's Moon

18 " Oh, but how I do miss our lovely city,” he sighed. “In Alexandria, there was beauty and learning and tolerance. Here, I see ugly buildings and people who want only to watch the bloody gladiatorial games.” He threw up his hands in disgust. “Where are the libraries? Where are the scholars, the poets? This is a place of brutes and beasts, not brains. "

― Vicky Alvear Shecter , Cleopatra's Moon

19 " One popular fantasy book featuring a boy wizard who shall not be named calls my fearsome dog "Fluffy. "

― Vicky Alvear Shecter , Hades Speaks!: A Guide to the Underworld by the Greek God of the Dead

20 " The ancient Greeks lived more than 2,500 years ago and were responsible for many of the things you take for granted today, such as democracy, freedom of speech, theater, money, the Olympic Games, and crazy politicians. "

― Vicky Alvear Shecter , Hades Speaks!: A Guide to the Underworld by the Greek God of the Dead