The Aztec And Greek Mythology - amazonia.fiocruz.br

The Aztec And Greek Mythology - opinion you

Quetzalcoatl is the most recognizable name among the Aztec gods. While this legend is disputed, it is clear that Quetzalcoatl was an important deity to the Aztecs and other people of Mexico and Central America. He was a god of wind, culture, knowledge, and creation. In some stories he created mankind, and in others he worked with his brother to form the earth itself. Different cultures associated him with priesthood and kingship, further complicating his mythology in later retellings. Quetzalcoatl was not only one of the most important deities in pre-Columbian Mexico, he was also one of the oldest. Feathered serpents appear as early as BC in parts of Mexico. Plumed serpents continued to be depicted in Central American cultures. Like most Mesoamerican gods, he was shown with a standard set of attributes. Although early images had shown a serpent, by the classical period of Aztec culture Quetzalcoatl was more often shown with a human body. The Aztec And Greek Mythology.

When odd, skull-shaped grave items were found by archaeologists decades ago at an Aztec temple in Mexico, they were assumed to be mere toys or ornaments, and were catalogued and stored in warehouses. Two skull-shaped, hollow whistles were found 20 years ago at the temple of the wind god Ehecatl, in the hands of a sacrificed male skeleton. When the whistles were finally blown, the sounds created were described as terrifying.

The Aztecs And The Aztec Mythology Essay

Skeleton of a man buried at the wind god temple, Tlatelolco, with an Aztec death whistle indicated. He writes in MexicoLore that the death whistle in particular was not a common instrumentand was possibly reserved for sacrifices — blown just before a victim was killed in order to guide souls to the afterlife- or for use in battle.

Aztec ritual human sacrifice portrayed in the Codex Magliabechiano. Greei Domain.

If the whistles were worn around the necks of Aztec warriors and then used to shock their enemies at the beginning of battles, the psychological effect on an enemy of a hundred death whistles screaming in unison might have been great, unhinging and undermining their resolve. Illustration of Aztec Warriors as found in the Codex Mendoza. Another hypothesis proposes that the sacrificed man was given the whistles so he could blow into them after he died and use the spirit of the wind to guide him safely through the Underworld.

Why Did the Aztecs Use the Death Whistles?

Los Angeles Times reports that some experts think the ancients used the different tones to send the brain into certain states of consciousness, or even to manage or treat illnesses. Some of the replica whistles created by Cabrera make sounds and tones reaching the top range of human hearing, almost inaudible to us.

An expert in pre-Hispanic music archaeology, Arnd Adje Both told Los Angeles Times "My experience is that at least some pre-Hispanic sounds are more destructive than positive, others are highly Aztecc. Surely, sounds were used in all kind of cults, such as sacrificial ones, but also in healing ceremonies. Other types of ancient noisemakers have been found made from different materials, such as feathers, sugar cane, clay, and frog skin.

But I think all of this is tied closely to what they did, how they thought. Top Image: Experimental models of Aztec death whistles. Read More. The article only mentions 2 being found]