Includes pictures Includes a bibliography for further reading 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 name Quetzalcoatl is as mysterious as its spelling.
Even those who have come across his name when learning about the history of Mesoamerica - particularly the Aztec and the god's role in the Spanish conquest of their empire - are often unaware that the Mesoamerican deity has tales that equal any of those in the repertoire of the mythological figures mentioned above, and the tale of his transmission into modern times is no less fascinating.
As archaeologists quickly learned, there are numerous temples dedicated to Quetzalcoatl all across Mesoamerica.
From the Aztec to the Maya, Quetzalcoatl - the Feathered Serpent - rears his beautiful head from magnificent relief carvings in temples no less grandiose than the largest pyramid in the region, that of Cholula in Mexico.
Furthermore, thousands of people still gather in the great Mayan city of Chich n Itz during the spring and autumn equinoxes to watch the shadow of the Feathered Serpent slither its way down the temple known as El Castillo.
Worship of the Feathered Serpent can be traced back 2, 000 years, and the Serpent's cults appear all across Mesoamerica.
The Olmec, the Aztec, and both the Yucatec and K'iche Mayans all had different names for this deity, including Kukulkan, Q'uq'umatz, and Tohil, but his iconography is curiously consistent over several centuries across the region.
Depending on who was worshipping him, the Feathered Serpent was a creator-god, the god of the winds, the god of the rains, or merely a near-divine ancestor whose militaristic ways won his followers land and riches before he was eventually marred by lavishness and iniquity, resulting in his demise.
To some of the invading Spanish conquistadores, Quetzalcoatl was little more than a.
Independently Published Quetzalcoatl: the history and legacy of the feathered serpent god in mesoamerican mythology, paperback/ernesto novato
