American Hero-Myths

Two Anta

OATL THE LIGHT-GOD--DERIVATION OF HIS NAME--TITLES OF

zalcoatl

OUR SUNS AND THE ELEMENTAL CONFL

coatl the H

N MOTHER, CHIMALMATL--HIS MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION--AZTLAN, THE LAND OF SEVEN CAVES, AND COLHUACAN, THE BENDE

LAINED--THE PROMISE OF REJUVENATION--THE TOVEYO AND THE MAIDEN--THE JUGGLERIES OF TEZCATLIPOCA--DEPARTURE OF QUETZALCOATL FROM T

oatl as Lord

TO THE GODS OF RAIN AND WATERS--INVENTOR OF THE CALENDAR--GOD OF FERTILITY AND CONCEPTION--RECOMMENDS SEX

turn of Qu

TEZUMA--HIS ADDRESS TO CORTES--THE GENERAL EXP

as in the Valley of Mexico, and whose scattered colonies were found on the shores of both oceans from the mouths of the Rio Grande and the Gila, south, almost to the Ist

and for this reason I am enabled to set forth in ampler detail the elements of their hero-myth,

Two Anta

tribes was his long contest with Tezcatlipoca, "a contest," observes an eminent Mexican antiquary, "which came to be the main element in the Nahuatl religio

t; as a figure of speech to represent the struggle for supremacy between two races; as an astronomical statement referring to the relative positions of the planet Venus

dly must be explained in the same manner. All of them are the transparent stories of a simple people, to express in intelligibl

ten known. But this sign is that of the East in Aztec symbolism.[2] In a myth of the formation of the sun and moon, presented by Sahagun,[3] a voluntary victim springs into the sacrificial fire that the gods have built. They know that he will rise as the sun, but they do not know in what part of the horizon that will be. So

een feather, such as were very highly prized by the natives. Hence it came to mean, in an adjective sense, precious, beautiful, beloved, admir

rm of cohuatl, a serpent. Metaphorically, cohuatl meant something mysterious, and hence a supernatural being, a god. Thus Montezuma, when he bui

Becerra in the seventeenth century, and adopted by Veitia in the eighteenth, both competent Aztec scholars.[6] They translate Quetzalcoatl as "the admirable twin," and though their notion that this refers to Thomas Didymus, the Apostle, does not meet my vi

roy their grandfather Amulius; with Edipus and Telephos, whose father Laios, was warned that his death would be by one of his children; with Theseus and Peirithoos, the former destined to cause the suicide of his father Aigeus; and with many more such myths. They can be traced, without room for doubt, back to sim

l expression of a natural occurrence, they had the belief that if twins were allowed to live, one or the other of them would ki

n constant warfare with his father, Tezcatlipoca-Camaxtli, the Spirit of Darkness. The effect of this oft-repea

should become popular, and in the picture writing some combination of the serpent with f

shipper. One of these was Papachtic, He of the Flowing Locks, a word which the Spaniards shortened to Papa, and thought was akin to their title of the Pope. It is, however, a pure Nahuatl word,[10] a

familiar among the Mexicans that at the time of an eclipse of the sun they sought out the

ove all other gods, as did Jove in Olympus. He was appealed to as the creator of heaven and

d Doer;[12] as exacting in worship, Monenegui, He who Demands Prayers; as the master of the race, Teyocoyani, Creator of Men, and Teimatini, Disposer of Men. As he was jealous and terrible, the god who visited on men plagues, and famines, and loathsome diseases, the dreadful deity who inc

adow without substance. He alone of all the gods defied the assaults of time, was ever young

The mirrors in use among the Aztecs were polished plates of obsidian, trimmed to a circular form. There was a variety of this black ston

d the night, refers, in its meaning, to the moon, which hangs like a bright round

nd most familiar of all, the surface of water: and that the smoke is the mist

he gloom were supposed to be sent by Tezcatlipoca, and to him were sacred

myths unite in identifying this deity as a primitive personificat

the mighty breathings of the giant form of the god on his nocturnal rambles. Were the hunter timorous he would die outright on seeing the terrific presence of the god; but were he of undaunted heart, and should rush upon him and seize him

zalcoatl

ty, which, in its male manifestations, was known as Tonaca tecutli, Lord of our Existence, and Tzin teotl, God of the Beginning, and in its female expressions as Tonaca cihuatl, Queen of

lord. It really has a more subtle meaning. Naca is not applied to edible flesh--that is expressed by the wo

adored beyond all others in the city of Mexico. Tezcatlipoca--for the two of the name blend rapidly into one as the myth progresses-

e, then half a sun, the heavens, the waters and a certain great fish therein, called Cipactli, and from its flesh the solid earth. The first mortals were the man, Cipactonal, an

atl, which was destined to destroy time after time the world, with all its

t giants, who could tear up trees with their hands. When an epoch of thirteen times fifty-two years had passed, Quetzalcoatl seized a great stick, and with a blow of it knocked Tezcatlipoca from the sky into the waters, and himself became sun. The fallen god transformed

violent a tornado that it destroyed all the inhabitants but a few, and these were changed into monkeys. His victorious brother then placed in the heavens, as sun, Tlaloc, the god of darkness, water and rains, but after half an epoch, Quetzalcoatl poured a flood of fire upon the earth, drove Tlaloc

tezcaquahuitl) and the Beautiful Great Rose Tree (quetzalveixochitl), on which the concave heavens have ever since securely rested; though we know them better, p

ould be obtained for the sacrifice. Then Quetzalcoatl builded a great fire and took his son--his son born of his own flesh, without the aid of woman--and cast him into the flames, whence he rose into the sky as the sun which lights the world. Whe

esses likewise died before the sun appeared, but came into being again from the garments they had left behind. So also did the four hundred Chichimecs, and these set about to burn one of the five goddesses, by name Coatlicue, the Serpent Skirted, because it was discovered that she was with child, though yet unmarr

of the myriad stars quenched every morning by the growing light, but returning every evening to their appointed places. And did any doubt remain, it is removed by the direct statement in the echo of this tradition pr

inued yet to live in the third heaven, and were its guards and watchmen. They were of five colors, yellow, black, white, blue and red,

were certain frightful women, without flesh or bones, whose names were the Terrible, or the Thin Dart-Throwers, who were waiting there until this world should end, when they would descend and eat up all mankind.[25] Asked concerning the t

t has already undergone four destructions by various causes, and that the present period is also to terminate in another such catastrophe. The agents of such universal ruin have been a great flood, a world-wide conflagration, frightful tornadoes

to Mexican or even American soil. We can turn to the Tualati who live in Oregon, and they will tell us of the four creations and destructions of mankind; how at the end of the first Age all human beings were changed into stars; at the end of the second they became stones; at the end of the third into fi

dinal points, and that the fifth or present age, that in which we live, is that which is ruled by the ruler of the four points, by the Spirit of Light,

ed their progenitors to their respective habitations. The rude mountaineers of Meztitlan, who worshiped with particular zeal Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl, and had inscrib

who has f

the ancient

the Lip-ston

when intoxicated with the pois

l hands, turned against her and slew her, sacrificing her to the Sun and offering her heart to that divinity.[30] In other words, it is the old

is none other than Quetzalcoatl,[31] while the Ancient Flint is probably Tezcatlipoca, thus bring

gave these four brothers

ilopo

tzn

acoli

tec

the name of a certain form of head-dress, was another title of Quetzalcoatl; and that Pantecatl was on

coatl, the

the Aztec race delighted to dwell, but on Quetzalcoatl, high priest in the glorious city of Tollan (Tula),

te not extremely remote, the story continues to be of his contest with Tezcatlipoca, and of the wiles of this

e place and the powers with which the story deals. For this Tollan, where Quetzalcoatl reigned, is not by any means, as some have supposed, the little town of Tula, still alive, a dozen leagues or so northwest from the city of Mexico; nor was it, as the legend usually stated, in some undefined locality from six hundred to a thousand leagues northwest of that city; n

ain would they find its like. In that land the crop of maize never failed, and the ears grew as long as a man's arm; the cotton burst its pods, not white only, but naturally of all beautiful colors, scarlet, green, blue, orange, what you would; the gourds could not be clasped in the arms; birds of beauteous plumage filled the air with melodious song. There was never any want nor poverty. All the riches of the world were there, houses built of silver and precious jade, of

the Light-God is on his throne, where the life-giving sun is ever present, where are

easily; or in the west, where the sun descends to his couch in sanguine glory; or in the east, beyond the purple rim

ther is in the underworld; yet another where the sun sets; and there is still another, and there

"there was the common parent of our race, thence came we, from among the Yaqui men, whose god is Yolcuat Quetzalcoat."[38] This Tollan is certainly none

still a Tollan--Tollan Tlapallan--and Montezuma, when he heard of the arr

led over. Thus we have Tollan and Tollantzinco ("behind Tollan") in the Valley of Mexico, and the pyramid

name, the Tolteca, which simply means "those who dwe

nds far to the north, and even the earthworks of the Ohio Valley. It is time they were assigned their proper place, and that is among the purely fabulous creations of

the far darting, bright shining rays of the sun. Not only does the tenor of the whole myth show this, but specifically and clearly the powers attributed to the ancient Toltecs. As the immediate subjects of the God of Light they were called "Thos

e astrologers and necromancers, marvelous poets and philosophers, painters as were not to be found elsewhere in the world, and such builders that for a thousand leagues the remains of their cities, temples and fortresses strewed the l

owed no lazy person to live among them, and like their master they were skilled in every art of life and virtuous beyond the power of mortals. In complexion

appeared on his departure. The city was left desolate, and what became of its remaining inhabitants no one knew. But this very uncertainty offered a fa

shorn of his beams and bereft of his glory, where are the bright rays, the darting gleams

lan--Hue Tlapallan--as being that from which he and they had emerged. Other myths called it the Place of Sand, Xalac, an evident reference to the sandy sea strand, the same spot where it was

imson and carnation of his setting, it always was, as Sahagun tells us, with all needed distinctness, "the city of the S

rates his birth in Tollan in some extraordinary manner; a second cycle claims that

by Torquemada to have been the canonical doctrine taught in the holy city of Cholollan, the centre of the worship of Quetzalcoatl.[47] It is a transparent metaphor, and could be paralleled by a hundred similar expr

e god appeared to them. Chimalman's two sisters were struck to death by fright at his awful presence, but upon her he breathed the breath of life, and straightway she conceived. The son she bore cost her life, but it was the divine Quetzalcoatl, surnamed Topiltcin, Our Son, and, from

peech to express that the breath of Morning announces the

erred that she was not a virgin, but the wife of Camaxtli (Tezcatlipoca);[50] or again, that she was the second wife of that venerable old man who was the father of the

t some indefinite distance to the north or northwest--in the same direction as Tollan. The name of that land was significant. It was called the White or Bright Land, Aztlan.[52] In its midst was situated the mountain or hill Colhuacan the Divine, Teoculhuacan.[

in the text of the relations of land and water

which he dwelt. Colhuacan means the bent or curved mountain. It is none other than the Hill of Heaven, curving down on all sides to the horizon; upon it in all times have dwelt the gods, and from it they have come to aid the men they favor. Absolutely the sa

from earth. No one can entirely climb the mountain, for from its middle distance to the summit it is of fine and slippery sand; but it has this magical virtue, that whoever ascends it, however old he is, grows young agai

e legend that gave him out as the son of the Lord of the High Heavens. They both mean the same thing. Chimalman, who appears in bo

s of the chroniclers to assign a location to these fabulous residences, have led to no result other than most admired disorder and confusion. It is as vain to seek their whereabouts, as it is tha

hitl, the Rose. Her father was the first to collect honey from the maguey plant, and on pretence of buying this delicacy the king often sent for Xochitl. He accomplished her seduction, and hid her in a rose garden on a mountain, where she gave birth to an infant son, to the great anger of the fathe

tells how Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca and their brethren were at first gods, and dwelt as stars in the heavens. They passed their time in Paradise, in a Rose Garden, Xochitlycacan ("where the roses are lifted

the coincidences of the rose garden on the mountain (in the one instance the Hill of Heaven, in the other a supposed terrestrial elevation) from which Quetz

adition which is also repeated with definitiveness by the native historian, Alva Ixtlilxochitl, but leaving the locality uncertain.[60] The historian, Veytia, on the other hand, describes him as arrivin

s character, and the magnificence of Tollan under his reign. His temple was divided into four apartments, one toward the East, yellow with gold; one toward the West, blue with turquoise and jade; one to

escended into this river to bathe, and the place of his bath was called, In the Painted Vase, or, In the Precious Waters.[63] For the Orb

ce, that whereas in the elemental warfare portrayed in the older myth mutual violence and alternate destruction prevail, in all these later myths Quetzalcoatl makes no effort at defence, scarcely remonstrates, but accepts his defeat as a dec

, represented as a struggle; in the other it is the gradual and calm but certain a

ame Lord of Tollan, and a famous warrior. For many years he ruled the city, and at last began to build a very great temple. While engaged in its construction Tezcatlipoca came to him one day and told him that toward Honduras, in a place called Tlapallan, a house was ready for him, and he must quit Tollan and go there to live and die. Quetzalcoatl replied that the heavens and stars had already warned him that after

rly date, in the Aztec tongue. He assures his readers that his narrative of these particular event

tants. He said: "We will give him a drink to dull his reason, and will show him his own face in a mirror, and surely he will be lost." Then Tezcatlipoca

to the servants, "that I have c

n the message was delivered. "What doe

e you, but your master," he said to the servants

rself much. Whence come you? What is t

ide of Nonoalco. Look, now, at your flesh; know yourself; see yourse

l saw his face in the

om me. How can a man remain among them filled as I am with foul sores, his face wrinkled

away to take counsel,

ant. I have come to console you. Go forth to yo

ied Quetzalcoatl. "I will

d taking feathers of the quechol bird, he arranged them as a beard. Quetzalcoatl surveyed himse

ountain of the Holy Priest, from the Hill of Tollan. When Quetzalcoatl heard this, he ordered them to be admitted, and asked their business. They offered him the pulque, but he refused, saying that he was sick, and, moreover, that it would weaken his judgment and might cause

my son; sing us a song

coatl began to si

house, my c

t Zacuan

leave it,

, and ah for

de them hasten to his sister Quetzalpetlatl, who dwelt on the Mountain Nonoalco, and bring her,

gh priest Quetzalcoatl awaits you. It is

d her beside him and gave her to drink of the magical pulque. Immediately

ine, belo

--petla

me, drin

sin, s

rgotten; they said no prayers, they went not to

s Quetzalcoatl

Let them build for me a habitation deep under ground; let them bury my bright treasures in the earth;

rth he wept and told his followers that the time had come for him to depart for Tlapallan, t

ther.[67] There his attendants built a funeral pile, and he threw himself into the flames.

; it loses the strength of its rays and fails in vigor; while the evening mists, the dampness of approaching dewfall, and the gathering clouds obscure its power and foretell the extinction which will soon engulf the bright luminary. As Quetzalcoatl cast his shining gold and precious stones into the water where he took his nigh

tells us that when he asked the desert Arabs this conundrum, they replied that the inquiry was frivolous and childish, as being wholly beyond the capacities of the human mind. The Aztecs did not think so, and had framed a definite theory which overcame the difficulty. It was that, in fact, the sun only advances to the zenith, and then ret

ut his journey must necessarily be to the East, for it is from that point that he always comes

in love with his own image reflected in the waters, and to pine away through unsatisfied longing; or, as Pausanias tells the story, having lost his twin sister (the morning twilight), he wasted his life in

tated in the earliest versions of the myth. The beverage is health-giving and intoxicating, and excites t

e god of wine, at the latter's own request, he believing that he thus would be rendered immortal, and that all others who drank of the beverage he presided over would die. His death, they added, was indeed like the stupor of a drunkard, who, after his lethargy has passed, rises healthy and well. In this sense of renewing life after death, he presided over the native calendar, the count of

he was told them, and as he wrote his history first in the Aztec tongue, they preserve all the quaintness of the original tales. Some of them appear to be idle

tli, Titlacauan and Tlacauepan,[72] who practiced many villanies in the city of Tullan. Titlacauan began them, assuming the disguise

the King and

servants. "You cannot see him. He

im," answered

man wished to see him, adding, "Sire, we put him out in vain; he refuses t

been waiting his com

he entered the apartment of Qu

you? I have with me a me

d Quetzalcoatl. "I have been looki

ked the old man. "How is

coatl. "My whole body pains me, a

old man

who drinks it. If you will drink it, it will intoxicate you, it will heal you, it will sooth

an," asked Quetzalcoat

man an

an awaiting you; you and he will talk together, and at your return you will

s, his heart was shaken with stron

drink this

wered the king, "I do

u do not drink it now, later you will long for it; at

nd tasted it, and then quaff

healthful and well-flavored. I am no lo

. "It is a good medicine, and y

ed toward the suggestion of his departure, nor did the deceit of the old sorcerer permit him to abandon the thought o

zalcoatl in the sovereignty of Tollan (although other myths apply this name directly to Quetzalcoatl, and this seems the correct version),[75] had an only daughter of surpassing beauty, whom many of the Toltecs had vainly sought in marriage. This damsel looked forth on the market where Tezcatlipoca stood

e come

, "I am a stranger, and I hav

ear a maxtli (breech-cloth), and co

stranger, "I follow th

e king

hter a longing; she is sick w

here; I wish to die; for I am not worthy to hear such words, poor

g insisted,

ne can restore my daug

y led him to the bath, and colored his body black; they

nto my d

unto her, and she was

ck body the preference over their bright forms, and they plotted to have him slain. He was placed in the front of battle, and then they left him a

nying the music with a song. As his listeners heard the magic music, they became intoxicated with the strains, and yielding themselves to its seductive influence, they lost all thought for the future or care for the present. The locality to which the crafty Tezcatlipoca had invited them was called, The Rock upon the Water.[76] It was the summit of a lofty rock at the base of which flowed the river called, By the Rock of Light.[77]

is fable, recounted with all the simplicity of the antique world,

the Day at the close of its life? The black lover with whom she is fatally enamored, is he not the Darkness, in which the twilight fades away? The countless crowds of Toltecs that come to the wedding festivities, and a

eavenly Hill which rises beside the World Stream? The bright light of one day cannot extend to t

ve was evidently as present to the Indian mind as to that of the mediaeval Italian. In New as well as in Old Spain it could break the barriers of rank and overcome the he

e tyrant,

omnipot

n the necks

he mind, lik

y had gathered together, he fell upon them and slew them with a hoe. Disguised with Huitzilopochtli, he irritated the people until they stoned the brother gods to death, and from the corrupting bodies spread a pestilential odor,

llan, to bury his treasures, and to begin the journey to Tlapallan. He transformed the cacao tr

ee. Here he asked of his servants a mirror, and looking in it said: "I am already old." G

tone by the wayside, and wept for the loss of Tollan. The marks of his hands remained upon the stone, and the tea

, sorcerers met him, minded

ave you left your capital? In whose care

alcoatl a

inder my departure. I h

ed again: "Whithe

oatl, "to Tlapallan. I have be

us the art of smelting silver, of working stone and woo

arried with him he cast them into the fountain, whenc

sorcerer met him, who as

uetzalcoatl, "

ied the sorcerer, "but first

tzalcoatl, "not s

f it is by force. To no living person would I give to drink

ough a reed, and as he drank he grew drunken a

tly froze to death. By drawing a line across the Sierra he split it in two and thus made a passage. He plucked up a mighty tree and hurling it thro

f serpents, and seating himself on it as in a canoe, he moved out t

aven by a cord made of spider's web, and, coming to Tollan, challenged its ruler to play a game of ball. The challenge was accepted, and the people of the city gathered in thousands to witness the sport. Suddenly Tezcatlipoca

them the art of working in metals, which previous to his coming was unknown in that land; secondly, because he forbade the sacrifice either of human beings or the lower animals, teaching that bread, and roses, and flowers, incense and perfumes, were all that the gods demanded; and lastly, because he forbade, and did his best to put a stop to, wars, fighting, ro

Guazacoalco, which is situated to the southeast of Cholula, he called the four youths to him, and told them they should return to their city; that he had to go

at he died there, by the seashore, and they burned his body. Of this

of the name Ce Acatl, One Reed, which returns every fifty-two years. He went forth with many followers, some of whom he left in each city he visited. At length he reached the town of Ma Tlapallan. Here he announced that he should so

owns, nations and kings were often pitted against each other. In the great temple of Mexico two courts were assigned to this game, over which a special deity was supposed to preside.[83] In or near the market place of each town there were walls erected for the sp

nd then bounds back again, describing a curve, so the stars in the northern sky circle around the pole

on were huge balls with which the gods played an unceasing game, now one, now the other, having the better of it. If this is so,

ger, therefore, which destroyed the subjects of Quetzalcoatl--the swift-footed, happy inhabitants of Tula--was none other than the night extinguishing the rays of the orb of light. I

y, but it is specifically in contradiction to the uniform statements of the old writers. All these agree that it was not till after he had finished his career, after he had run his course and disappeared from the sight and knowledge of men, that he was translated and became the evening or morning star.[87] This clearly signifies that he

oatl as Lord

he Lord of the East, is also master of the cardinal points an

fore Tlaloc; god of the rains, because in that climate heavy down-pours are preceded by violent gusts. Torquemada names him as "God of the Air," and states

g portrayed in the picture writing as a circle or wheel, with a figure with five angles inscribed upon it, the s

the temples which were built in his honor as god of the winds. These, w

the Greek cross, with four short arms of equal length. Several of these were painted on the mantle which he wor

he meaning of this cruciform symbol as revealed in its native names shows where it belongs and what it refers to. These names are three, and their significations are, "The Rain-God," "The Tree of our Life," "The God of Strength."[91] A

The sign came to be connected with fertility, reproduction and life, through its associations as a symbol of the rains which restore the parched fields and aid in the germination of seeds. Their influence in this respect is

r, or wife, or mother, Chalchihuitlicue. According to one myth, these were created by the four primeval brother-gods, and placed in the heavens, where they occupy a large mansion divided into four apartments, with a court i

tecutli, the Lord of the Wine of the Earth, was the proper title of the male divinity, who sent the fertilizing showers, and thus caused the seed to grow in barren places. It was he who gave abundant crops and saved t

ne, very highly esteemed by the natives of Mexico and Central America, and worked by them into ornaments and talismans, often elaborately engraved and inscribed with symbols, by an art now altogether lost.[95] According to one myth, Quetzalcoatl's mother to

e has his home, or to the blue and green waters where he makes his bed. Whatever the connection was, it was so close that the festivals of all three, Tlaloc

ndar. He himself was said to have been born on Ce Acatl, One Cane, which was the first day of the first month, the beginning of the reckoning, and the name of the day

who, as I have said, appear to represent the Sky and the Earth. A certain cave in the province of Cuernava (Quauhnauac) was pointed out a

uetzalcoatl. His land and city were the homes of abundance; his people, the Toltecs, "were skilled in all arts, all of which they had been taught by Quetzalcoatl himself. They were, moreover, very r

s of marriage which were in use among the Aztecs were attributed to him,[104] and when the wife found she was with child it was t

a jewel, a rich feather. Perhaps you have watched, and swept, and offered incense; for such good works the kindness of the Lord has been made manifest, and it was decreed in Heaven and Hell, before the beginning of the World, that this grace should be ac

nd for that reason were called Quateczizque.[106] No one has explained this curiously shaped bonnet. But it was undoubtedly because

organs of the unborn infant. Therefore, when a couple of high rank were blessed with a child, an official or

aven, where dwell the two highest divinities. His Divine Majesty has fashioned you in a mould, as one fashions a ball of gold; you have been chisele

f the womb, sterile women made their vows to him, and invok

tell us that Quetzalcoatl was never married, and that he held himself aloof from all women, in absolute chastity. We are told that on one occasion his subjects urged upon him the propriety of marriage, and to their importunities he return

he tongue and male member with the sharp thorns of the maguey plant, an austerity which, according to their traditions, he was the first to institute.[111] There were also in the cities

catl, reed, cornstalk, is also applied to the virile member; and it has been suggested that this is the real signification of the word when applied to the hero-god. The suggestion is plausible, but the word does not seem

o Torquemada, had a door in the form of a serpent's mouth; and in the Codex Vaticanus, No. 3738, published by Lord Kingsborough, of which we have an explanation by competent native authority, he is represented as a serpent; while in the same Codex, in the astrological si

er name of this divinity was Yacacoliuhqui, With the End Curved, a name which appears to refer to the curved rod or stick which was both his sign and one of those of Quetzalcoatl.[114] The merchants also constantly associated in their prayers this deity with Huitzilopochtli, which is

kingdom and lost his all, was not considered a deity of invariably good augury. His day and sign, ce acatl, One Reed, was of bad omen. A person bo

bbing them. They applied to him to exercise his maleficent power on those whom they planned to deprive of their goods. His image was borne at the head of the gang when they made

his images and the forms of his temples and altars, referre

mage, was "very ugly, with a large head and a full beard."[117] The beard, in this and similar instances, was to repre

ing robe, and was then called "Father of the Sons

chequered career, and as a god under different manifestations of his divine natu

turn of Qu

coatl w

ft of serpent skins, or whether his body had been burned on the sandy sea strand and his soul had mounted to the morni

r-faced retinue, and resume the sway of his people and their descendants. Tezcatlipoca had conquered, but not for aye. The immutable

with wrappings, signifying that he was absent, "as of one who lays him down to sleep, and tha

ays at night. As this, too, is somewhere beneath the level of the earth, it was occasionally spoken of as Tlillapa, The Murky Land,[122] and allied therefore to Mictlan. Caverns led down to it, especially one south

llan, the Red Land, and Tizapan, the White Land, for

llan, it speaks of the former as Huey Tlapallan, Old Tlapallan, or the first Tlapallan. But Old Tlapallan was usually located to the West, where the sun disappears at night;[125] while New Tlapallan, the goal of Qu

ere the youth were shut up and severely trained in ascetic lives, previous to coming forth into the world. In this function he was addressed as Quetzalcoatl Tlilpotonqui, the Dark or Black Plumed, and

not be difficult to quote similar instances from Aryan and Egyptian mythology. The sun at night was oft

gnty, which he had laid down at the instigation of Tezcatlipoca. In what cycle he woul

n calendar this recurs only once in their cycle of fifty-two years. The myth ran that on some recurrence of this year his arrival was

s were reported in the sky, on earth and in the waters. The sages and diviners were consulted, but their answers were darker than the ignorance they were asked to dispel. Yes, they agreed, a change is to come, the present order of things wil

dwarfs and hunchbacks--a class of dependents he maintained in imitation of

e enters, he dies indeed, but only to be born to an eternal life in a land where food and wine are in perennial plenty. It is shady with trees, fille

. They chose that which descended most rapidly, and soon were accosted by an old man with a staff in his hand. This was Totec, who led them to his lord Huemac, to whom they stated the wish of Montezu

evil, and quite possibly they themselve

f Cincalco to reach the mysterious land where his attendants and priests professed to have been. For obvious reasons such a suggest

rds and strings of glittering beads from Cortes, the emperor could doubt no longer, and exclaimed: "Truly this is the Quetzalcoatl w

gh the interpreter Marina in remarkable words which have been p

ents, he seated himself next

go with him nor recognize him as their king; therefore he went back. We have ever believed that those who were of his lineage would some time come and claim this land as his, and us as his vassals. From the direction whence you come, which is where the sun rises, and from what you tell me of this great lord who sent you, we believe and think it certain that he is our natural ruler, especially since you say that for a long time he has

on of a general sentiment. When the Spanish ships for the first time reached the Mexican shores the natives kissed their sides and hailed the white and bearded strangers from the east as gods, sons and brothers of Quetzalcoatl, come

th of the sun which had sunk but should rise again, had in the lapse of time lost its peculiarly religious sense, and had been in part taken to refer to past historical events. The Light-God had bec

ecies of their coming. The Mayas of Yucatan, the Muyscas of Bogota, the Qquichuas of Peru, all did the s

his body cast into "the unclean sea," will come again from the eastern shores. Balder, slain by the wiles of Loki, is not dead f

ise a sec

ocean, gree

ebb, the

fish from o

n the wond

lets, shal

nes by Ae

uled Fioln

fields uns

flee, and

Odin's hi

ll the h

he sun that

old on hea

god-like p

or aye a h

dra del Sol, in the Anales del Museo

es del Museo Nacional de M

e las Cosas de Nueva Es

a; el cabello largo, muy llano." Diego Duran,

lebra, que sin metáfora quiere decir templo de diversos diose

uoted in Veitia, Historia del Origen de las Gentes

f the sun-god is one, but, now that it is born again, it divides into two principal forms. Ra was worshipped at An, under his two prominent manifestations, as Tum th

Science of Comparative Mythology a

dieta, Historia Eclesiastica

pellos, o de otra cosa assi." Molina, Vocabulario de la Lengua Mexican

Historia Eclesiastica In

ahagun says this title was given him because he could do what he pleased, on earth or in heaven, and no one could prevent hi

es are to be found in Sahagu

visible, o Supremo Essere. Era il Dio della Providenza, l' anima del Mondo, il Creator del Cielo e della Terra, ed il Signor di tutle le cose. Rap

gun, Historia, Lib

s del Museo Naciona

n, Historia. Lib. vi

eur, ennemi des hommes et de la nature." La Mythologie Comparée, p. 334 (Paris, 1878). A closer study of the original authorities would, I am sure, have led M. de Rialle to change this opinion. He is singularly far from the conclusion reached by M. Ternaux-Compans, who says: "Tezcatlipoca f?t la personnification du bon principe."

da, Monarquía Indiana,

storia de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas, Cap. i, printed in the Anales del Museo Nacional; the Codex

with the personal ending from chipauac, something beautiful or clear. Hence the meaning of the compound is The Beautiful Shining One. Oxomuco, which Chavero derives from xomitl, foot, is perhaps the same as Xmukane, the mother of the human race, according to the Popol Vuh, a na

ing to general tradition the Chichimecs were a barbarous people who inhabited Mexico before the Aztecs came. Yet Sahagun say

Vuh, Le Livre Sacré

e Symboles des Points de l'Horizon chez les Peuples du Nouveau M

his Vocabulary renders "cosa espantosa ó cosa de aguero." For a thorough discussion of

ich I consider in some respects the most valuable authority we possess. It was taken directly fr

edra del Sol, in the Anales del Muse

nkind, a Tualati myth, in Transactions of the Anthrop

Keilinschriftliche Sintfluthbe

ivo de Indias, Tom. iv, pp. 535 and 536. The translations of the names are not given by Chaves, but I think they are correct,

rivation is from ixtli, face, cui, to take, and na, four. See the note of

G?tter der Vier Weltgegenden und ihre Tempel in Palenq

Tollan was represented by a bundle of rushes (Kingsborough, vol. vi, p. 177, note), as that was merely in accordance with the rules of the picture writing, which represented names by rebuses. Still more worthless is the derivation given by Herrera (Historia de las Indias O

, National Book, of the Kiches, have much to say about Tulan. These works were all written at a very early date, by natives,

agun, Historia, L

ia de los Indios, in Kingsb

a Xahila, Memorial de Tecpan Atitlan.

root yauh, whence yaque, travelers, and especially merchants. The Kiches recognizing in the Aztec merchants a superior and cultivated class of men, adopted into

exicana, s.v.). This is a secondary meaning. Veitia justly says, "Toltecatl quiere decir artifice, porque en Tholl

ring a whole day. Sahagun, Historia, Lib. iii, cap. iii, and Lib. x, cap. xxix; compare also the myth of Tezcatlipoca disguised as an old woman parc

" Duran, Historia, in King

ote 42

as here portrayed, see Ixtlilxochitl, Relacio

sus antepasados, en donde vivió muchos a?os." Ixtlilxochitl, Relaciones Historicas, p. 394, in Kingsborough, vol. ix.

y que se fué á la ciudad del Sol, llamada Tlapall

e Fuen-leal, Hist. de l

is a compound of maxtli, covering, clothing, and ca, the substantive verb, or in the latter instance, yoalli, night;

m chalchihuitl, jade, and vitztli, the thorn used to pierce the tongue, ears and penis, in sacrifi

Historia Eclesiastica In

ote 50

istola Proemial, p. 10. The first wife was Ilancueitl, from ilantli

m the same root as izlac, white, with the local ending tlan, and means the White or Bright Land. See the subject discussed in Busc

round. Father Duran says it is another name for Aztlan: "Estas cuevas son en Teoculacan, q

istoria Eclesiastica Indi

work, The Myths of th

ne esta virtud, que el que ya viejo se quiere remozar, sube hasta donde le pare

Relaciones Historicas, p. 3

intoxicating wine of the Maguey. In Meztitlan he was associated with the gods of this beverage and of drunkenness. Hence it i

de Cholula, llamado Quetzalcoatl, fué el mas celebrado y tenido por mejor y mas digno sobre los otro dioses, segun la reputacion de todos. Este, segun

Historia Chich

1: Historia

Sahagun, Lib.

l, water pan, in, and chalchiuitl, precious, brilliant, the jade stone (id., Lib. x, cap. xxix); and Atecpanamochco, from atl, water, tecpan, royal, amochtli, any shining white metal, as tin, and

leal, Historia de los Mexicano

65: The or

quetzal,

no calli

in nic

n ya, an

era

beautiful (

my house

, I must

las, th

ame, may mean a rich yellow leather

means "the Beautiful Carpet," petlatl being the rug or mat used on floors, etc. This would be a most appropriate figure of speech to describe a rich tropical landscape, "carpeted with flowers," as we say; and as the earth is, in primitive cosmogony, older than the sun, I suspect that this st

enco, from teotl, divine, atl, water, pan, in or near, ilhuicac, heaven, ate

his account is from the Anal

de Fuen-leal, Histor

. Cox, The Science of Myth

incia de Meztitlan, 1556, in the Colecion de Documen

oca. The three sorcerers were really Quetzalcoatl's three

z speaks of it, and says it was so called because there was a superstition that a person soon to die could not hold a branch of it; but if he was to recover, or escap

tes "foreigner, stranger." Sahagun says that it was applied particularly to the Huastecs

, and maitl, hand. Tezozomoc, Duran, and various

rom texcalli, rock, and apa

xcalli, rock, tlaulli, light, and th

ce Mangan, Poems, "T

sas de Nueva Espa?a. They were taken down in the original Nahuatl, by him, from t

myth, see Mendieta, Historia Eclesia

Relaciones Historicas, p. 3

g but obscure description of it. Mon

635). One of these was called "The Ball Court of the Mirror," perhaps with special reference to this legend. "Trigesima secunda Tezcatlacho, l

arado Tezozomoc, Cronica Mexicana, cap. lxxxii. The obscure passage in which Tezozomoc r

s del Museo Naciona

ocelotl es el cielo manchado de estrellas, como

ex Telleriano-Rem

Lib. i, cap. v. Torquemada, Monar

from the root yaual or youal, circular, rounding, and was applied to various objects of a circular form. The s

de levantada aquella capa quadrada, hecho su altar, cubrianlo con una pared redonda, alta y cubierta con su chapital. Este era del dios del aire, cual dijimos tener su principal sella en Cholollan, y en toda esta provincia habia mucho de estos. A este dios del aire llamaban en su lengua Quetzalcoatl," Histo

rom to, our, naca, flesh or life, quahuitl, tree; Chicahualizteotl, from chicahualiztli, strength

Fuen-leal, Historia de

consumed by the lower classes in Mexico at this day, and which was well known to the ancients. Another derivation o

de, and cueitl, skirt or petticoat,

America, New York, 1869, and Heinrich Fischer, Nephrit und Jadeit nach ihrer Urgeschichtli

Telleriano-Remensi

See above, c

ada, Monarquia Indian

presses the fertilizing action of the sky (the sun and rains) upon the earth. He thinks that in some of the manuscripts, as the Codex Borgia, it is represented by the rabbit fecundat

: Codex Vatic

ex Telleriano Reme

he worthy chronicler upon the narrative, "como son las demas que creian cerca de sus dioses." This has

agun, Historia, Li

itia, cap. xvii,

s often addressed in the prayers as "father and mother," just as, in the Egyptian ritual, Chnum was appealed to as "father of fathers and mother of mothers" (Tiele, Hist. of the Egyptian Re

. viii, p. 267. The word is from quaitl, h

ue siccome il piscato esce dalle pieghe di quell'osso, o conca. cosi v

agun, Historia, Li

ada, Monarquia Indiana

was killed in war, the other, Pochotl, who was educated by his nurse, Toxcueye, and who, after the destruction of Tollan, collected the scattered Toltecs and settled with them around the Lake of Tezcuco (Relaciones Historicas, p. 394

Codex Vatican

Veitia, Histo

anus, No. 3738, plates 44 and 75, King

a Indiana, Lib. vi, cap. xxviii and Sahagun

lord, and either yaqui, travel

and coliuhqui, bent or curved. The translation in the text is quite as allowable as that of Torquemada, and more appropriate. I have alread

agun. Historia, Li

: Ibid. Lib.

I. On the other hand Ixtlilxochitl speaks of him as "de bella figura." Historia Chichimeca, cap. viii.

lxochitl says, "tubiese el cabello levantado desde la frente hasta

ran, Historia, in Kings

called "the concealed or imprisoned god, in a physical sense the Sun-god in the darkness of night

agun, Historia, Li

t. Indiana, Lib. ii, cap. v. The name i

Tezozomoc give the name Cincalco, To the House of Maize, i.e., Fertility, Abundance, the Paradise. Duran gives Cicalco, and translate

white earth or other substance, and

n de Cortes, que por parecer vermeja le pusieron el nombre r

vii. and cf. Lib. i, cap v. The surname is from

e given by Tezozomoc as Tezocuilyoxique, Zenteicxique

he war chief of Tula, as Quetzalcoatl was the sacerdotal head (Lib. iii, cap. v).

, cap. ix. The four roads which met one on the journey to the Under World are also descri

ozomoc, Cronica Me

, Lib. xii, cap. xvi. The statement of Montezuma that Quetzalcoatl had already returned, but had not been well received by the people, and had, therefore, left them again, is very interesting. It is a part of the Quetzalcoatl myth which I have not found in any other Aztec source. But it

hagun, Historia,

los cristianos luego los llamaron dioses, hijos, y hermanos de Quetzalcoatl, aunque despues que conocieron y