Meeting the gods: apotheoses and exchanges of the early encounter
In November 1519, Moteuczoma Xocoyotl, Marina/Malīntzin and Hernán Cortés met, conversed, and exchanged gifts. According to Cortés's letters to Charles V, Moteuczoma identified him as a returned ancestral chieftain (often considered to be the deity Quetzalcoātl). By reading the accounts of thei...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
[2012]
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| In: |
Material religion
Year: 2012, Volume: 8, Issue: 4, Pages: 416-438 |
| Further subjects: | B
Deity
B gift exchange B Aztecs B cosmovision B Quetzalcoātl B Embodiment B Cortés B Moteuczoma |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Summary: | In November 1519, Moteuczoma Xocoyotl, Marina/Malīntzin and Hernán Cortés met, conversed, and exchanged gifts. According to Cortés's letters to Charles V, Moteuczoma identified him as a returned ancestral chieftain (often considered to be the deity Quetzalcoātl). By reading the accounts of their gift exchange as mythohistorical texts presenting a uniquely contact perspective, we may gain insight into how both parties negotiated linguistic, cultural, and religious differences in order to shape the situation each in his best interest. The visual record of their exchange suggests that Moteuczoma gave Cortés the vestments of the gods in order to transform him into a teīxīptla, a localized deity embodiment, as a precursor to possible sacrifice. Alphabetic accounts of their meeting describe Mesoamericans identifying Cortés and his companions as teteoh (deities), a concept Cortés accepts insofar as it advances his military, political, and economic agendas. I argue that understanding these texts as mythohistories with contact perspectives complicatesor perhaps clarifiestheir reading by acknowledging that they both betray Mesoamericans and belie Europeans. |
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| ISSN: | 1751-8342 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Material religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2752/175183412X13522006994737 |