The civilization of ancient Mexico / by Lewis Spence.

  • Spence, Lewis, 1874-1955.
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The civilization of ancient Mexico / by Lewis Spence. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    We will first examine the myth of Quetzalcoatl, and then attempt to unravel his somewhat perplexing personality. We shall later have to consider him according to various authorities as Air-god, Sun-god, and “ Culture-hero.” Quetzalcoatl was regarded as “ the father of the Toltecs,” and according to one migration-legend of the advance of the Toltecs from north to south, he was the seventh and youngest son of the Toltec Abraham, Iztacmixcohuatl. His name signifies “ Feathered Serpent,” or “ Feathered Staff.” He became ruler of Tollan, and by his mild sway and the introduction of the arts and sciences, did much to further Toltec advancement, of which indeed he may be said, in the terms of myth, to have laid the foundations. However the time came when he was persecuted by the cunning wizards, Tezcatlipoca and Nauhollin, the former of whom, descending from the sky as a spider, by means of a fine web, gave him pulque (liquor distilled from the maguey plant) to drink. Becoming intoxicated he forgot his chastity, and he was doomed to exile from Anahuac. He buried his treasure of gold and silver, burned his palaces, and changed the cocoa trees into mezquites and dispatched the birds from Tollan to the district of Mexico. Alarmed at the state of matters brought about by his departure, the wizards besought him to return, but he declined on the