Hello, beautiful people! Have you ever considered what those inhabitants of the ancient world have to say about the creation of the world, forces of nature, or even death? SamToLocal gives an account compatible with a belief system that the Aztecs had on gods, creation, and their position in the cosmos.
From the violent depictions of warrior gods to the tamer portrayals of fertility gods, the Aztec stories remain the Teilhardian fascination of today’s theoreticians and hobby anthropologists.
As you continue reading this article, you will learn about some of the most common legends among the Aztecs, discover what the myths really meant, and see how they impacted this civilization. What does this say about the Aztecs and the way they saw the world during the ancient period?
Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
The Creation of the World: The Legend of the Five Suns
The central hypothesis of Aztec mythology unites cyclic cosmogony, or the idea of creating the world and blowing it up several times. According to the story represented in The Legend of the Five Suns, there are five Americas several times the world has been created and destroyed.
Tezcatlipoca
Each world, or ‘sun,’ had its god, and one after another, it was destroyed by one calamity or another. As the lord of fish, Tezcatlipoca was identified with the god of the long first day of the fifth cycle, wherein jaguars consumed the first Sun. Quetzalcoatl ruled the second Sun.
The thousands blew it to bits, which shows that the sun aftSunQuetzalcoatl was destroyed during the strong winds. There’s the death of the third Sun and June’s third Sun in Sungerbread fires falling like rain. In the Fourth one, the fourth Sun is Spawned in a flood of water.
The Earth, which is the Fifth Sun, is considered frail and could cease or finish at any one time in the future. They died to bring forth this new generation, and as for serving the gods and proving one’s loyalty to the gods, this is how the Aztecs saw it: By killing the prisoners of war, they are destroying life, and for those killing, they are offering life. This myth enhances the survivor’s Aztec fatalism and the intransient nature of life.
Quetzalcoatl: The Feathered Serpent
The Aztecs were polytheistic people, and one of the top male deities was Quetzalcoatl, also called the feathered serpent. Quetzalcoatl was a god of many roles. To his adversaries, he was known as the god of creation, the god of light, the god of knowledge, the god of wind, and the god of learning.
For example, in Aztec society, he is described as having the attributes of a feathered serpent. This symbolizes the duality of the Earth and the heavens.
One of Quetzalcoatl’s most familiar legends is that of the creation of man. From this point of view, Quetzalcoatl descended to the underworld after the fourth Sun had Sunrished with the intent to search for the bones of dead generations of man.
Then he came back, combined the bones with the blood of the man, and thus created the first humans. The above was an act of sacrifice in the marking myth of Aztecs since it represented the creation of the people.
Here, once more, the version of the legend about Quetzalcoatl was given the subject of his departure from the world. Tezcatlipoca betrayed him, and he abandoned the land that belonged to the Aztecs, his people.
He said that he would return, which, according to many historians, was a way of ensuring the destruction of the Aztec empire because some of the inhabitants of his empire admitted and assisted the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortes into their empire believing he was Quetzalcoatl.
Huitzilopochtli: The God of War and the Sun
The god of war, the god of the Sun and Sun, and the principal Aztec deity linked most closely to Tenochtitlan Huitzilopochtli was undoubtedly one of them. His myth is closely connected with the emergence of the Aztecs, the coming of this nation, and the construction of its capital.
According to the legend, Huitzilopochtli emerged from the belly of pregnant earth goddess Coatlicue when a ball of feathers descended on her. Once more, her daughter Coyolxauhqui and four hundred brothers felt enraged and sought to kill her.
Unfortunately, Huitzilopochtli was born armed and killed his siblings in the great fight, while Coyolxauhqui lost her body and was chucked off a mountain.
This myth was vital in the Aztecs’Aztec’s justification for war and subsequent practices. Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlán was constructed for Huitzilopochtli. At the stairs of this temple, many thousands of warriors surged and died so that the Sun could continue traveling across the sky.
The Tlaloc and the World of Rain
Among all other celestial things in Mesoamerican tradition, water and rain had a prestigious place in the pantheon. They were rulers by Tlaloc, the god of rain and strength, Green:2. Tlaloc was mainly seen as the god of the rain, in addition to bringing fertility to the ground and, at the same time, raising deadly famine in people.
Tlaloc is thought to control a kind of afterlife known as Tlalocan, which was home to people who died from drowning or diseases associated with water. We had specks that gladdened food, water, and happy eternities in this heavenly place.
To appease the god Tlaloc, the Aztecs were rain worshippers and offered a tremendous number of rain deities ceremonies during the drought period. The Tlaloc myth portrays the Aztecs’Aztec’s agricultural reliance and the conviction that gods influenced crop-growing activities’ success or failure.
Xolotl: The Twin and God of Death
Xolotl, along with his twin brother Quetzalcoatl, was the god of fire, death, and the underworld among the Aztecs. He was portrayed with a dog’s head to distinguish him as the chief navigator of the souls’ journey.
In content and form, Xolotl’s most elaborate myth is undoubtedly his part in the birth of the Sun. When the gods disposed of the four earlier suns and created the Fifth Sun, they assigned Xolotl Mercury to escort the new Sun through the underworld each night and wake it up in the morning. Indeed, without Xolotl, the Sun cannot make its round in the sky during the day.
Xolotl was also viewed as protective, even though he had a link with death. He escorted the dead towards the underworld and made sure they arrived there in one piece.
Research on Aztec myths and their importance to society
Aztec myths were not mere fiction; they were also part of the culture, politics, and social formation systems of the Aztecs. This is why these legends were so important: they justified imperialism, human sacrifice, and the prominent position of the priesthood.
Aztec myths like the deities Huitzilopochtli or Quetzalcoatl defined the cosmos and offered rituals as an important institution for Aztec everyday life.
Furthermore, these myths gave hope for the afterlife, outlining what happens when one dies and the journey one has to take. Quetzalcoatl, for example, created human beings using bones, and the divine offered sacrifices for the people in the same manner the people offered sacrifices for the gods.
Conclusion
The myths of the Aztecs provide an insight into the thoughts of one of the most intriguing ancient cultures in the universe. These stories represent their perception of creation, death, and the powers underlying the universe.
The myths of the Aztecs, ranging from bloody conflicts with gods to the deeds of mercy, are still as vivid today as they were years ago. Well did these ancient stories help define the culture and beliefs of the human populace over time?
FAQ
1. Who was Quetzalcoatl in Aztec mythology?
In Aztec mythology, there was a god called Quetzalcoatl, whose role shall be described below. Quetzalcoatl was another chief god called the feathered serpent or the “feather star-syndicate.” They identified him with wind, knowledge, and the creation of man.
2. What is meant by the Five Suns Legend?
The general idea of the story given in ‘The Legend of the Five Suns’ consists of the creation of the global cycle during which the world is created and destroyed five times.
3. What role did Huitzilopochtli play to the Aztecs?
Most significantly, Huitzilopochtli was the god of war and the Sun and the patron god of Tenochtitlán. He created myths to justify the Aztecs’ military regimes and their tendency towards human sacrifices.
4. What was Tlaloc, and what significance did he play in Aztec culture?
Tlaloc was a significant deity of rain, as well as fertility in agriculture. He regulated the water and usefulness of seas, which were the causes of crop-yielding or bearing destruction for the agriculturally inclined Aztecs.
5.In Aztec myths, what does Xolotl represent?
Xolotl was the brother of Quetzalcoatl and was considered the duality god of death and the underworld. He took people to the unknown world after death and had things to do with the daily journey of the Sun.
