Huitzilopochtli: The History of the Aztec God of War and Human Sacrifice

by Charles River Editors, Ernesto Novato

*Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents Gilgamesh, Hercules, Aeneas, and Lancelot are instantly recognized as mythological heroes in the West, evoking visions of Persian monsters, ghastly labors, and the founding and glorification of cities, but the names of Mesoamerican gods remain as mysterious as their spelling. Even those who have come across their names when learning about the history of Mesoamerica – particularly the Aztec and various gods’ roles in the Spanish conquest of their empire – are often unaware that the Mesoamerican deities have tales that equal any of those in the repertoire of the mythological figures mentioned above. As archaeologists quickly learned, there are numerous temples dedicated to gods all across Mesoamerica, from the Olmec and Toltec to the Aztec and Maya. Furthermore, thousands of people still gather in the ruins of Mesoamerican cities, even as researchers learn more about the civilizations that continue to fascinate modern societies. To the Aztec, Huitzilopochtli wore a blue-green hummingbird helmet and was draped in pure white heron feathers. He carried a smoking mirror, an obsidian mirror, a shield, darts, and the serpent Xiuhcoatl that carried with it the fury and might of the sun. Everything about him - from his clothes to his weapons - emanated and defined royalty. His name meant Hummingbird of the South or Hummingbird of the Left (meaning the “Southern Part of the World”) in the native language of the Aztec, Nahuatl. In his kingly role he was not only irrevocably intertwined with war and conquest but also with trade, the things most important to the great Aztec Empire. He was as bloodthirsty as he was just, and he was the pillar of Aztec society from its mythical beginnings to its tragic end. The wonderful thing about Huitzilopochtli is that his position in the Aztec pantheon of gods is difficult to define, far more than it would be to define the roles of Zeus, Jupiter, or Odin. Huitzilopochtli was the patron god of the Aztec, but modern scholars tend to think of his importance in terms of scaled growth from (possibly) a mortal man of great acclaim to the god whose temple was at the heart of the Aztec empire. His myth not only formed the basis of some of the more honored and bloody rituals performed by the Aztec, but actually influenced the modern-day Mexican coat of arms that can be found on the national flag. The History of the Aztec God of War and Human Sacrifice examines the origins of the deity and his place in the pantheon of gods. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Huitzilopochtli like never before.

Genres: History

101 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 19, 2019

About the author

Charles River Editors is an independent publisher of thousands of ebooks on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Apple iBookstore & provider of original content for third parties.

Reviews

[Baroness · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect bedtime story about human sacrifice.

[Vivek KuRa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This audio book is a brief introduction to the mythology surrounding the important Aztec god of war/trade “Huitzilopochtli “(Meaning Blue green hummingbird of the south) for whom humans were sacrificed. Most of what we know today about the Aztec gods and rituals come from few pre-Hispanic and 500+ Spanish colonial codices. Spanish codices should be taken with a grain of salt as it had hidden agenda to defame and traduce the native culture and thus justify their usurpation of the kingdom in the name of the Church . Also we are left with no Aztec alphabets and only pictographs.
To have a fair unbiased assessment of Aztec life, rituals, and beliefs, one should understand the overall Mesoamerican civilizations and their practices that existed before the Aztecs. Aztecs were relatively a new civilization compared to the ancient Olmecs, Zapotec, Teotihuacanos, Toltecs and Mixtecs. Oral history tells us, pre- Olmec people arrived from a distant land called Aztlan (Which is thought to be some where in the Southwestern states of USA) and hence eventually Aztecs. The story tells us that due to famine, the northern people migrated south carrying their god Huitzilopochtli with them and arrived at today’s Mexico City area. Human sacrifices and bloodletting were offered to Huitzilopochtli to give life force to him. But it was done only during special occasions.
Most of these ancient civilizations had the practice of offering human sacrifices to their gods. But to what scale is much debated. Spanish chronicles and codices claim staggering numbers of sacrifices (4000 to 20,000!!) offered during festivals. But the number is questionable. Also, the notion that all the Aztecs were cannibals and ate human meat due to lack of protein is also debatable. Aztec nobles did eat the victims who got sacrificed but not the general population.

Finding the true ancient history through mythology and oral history is always challenging and I think this book did a good job in separating facts and fiction.

[Daria Pack · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a book about the Aztecs, it sure has some crazy "facts" that were never discussed in any other books or credible articles I've read in my studies of mesoamerican cultures. I unfortunately only had the audio book version so I couldn't look at their sources for evidence of their claims. I'd personally look to the Great Courses company for better information. Definitely will avoid this publisher in the future.

[Filip Sekkelsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and short introduction. However, more than half is copy-paste of the book on Tlaloc. The voice could have used a primer in Spanish pronunciation to avoid talking about “pulque, an alcoholic drink made from the ‘ma-goo-ey’ plant” (maguey).

[Ilse Alva]

audio

[Lobstar · Rating 5 out of 5]

History and mythology come together in this book. Fascinating to learn about new cultures.

[Kelsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief, clear introduction to mesoamerican and Aztec culture and Huitzilopochtli specifically.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt quite indifferent to this.

[Петр Федичев · Rating 5 out of 5]

short and good