Meeting the gods

Apotheoses and Exchanges of the Early Encounter

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7918514
AutoresMolly H Bassett (0000-0003-3117-5658, Georgia State University, autor de correspondencia), Molly Bassett
Año2012
Volumen8
Número4
Páginas416-438
Fecha de publicación2012-12-01
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaMaterial Religion (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1743-2200 • E-ISSN: 1751-8342
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.2752/175183412x13522006994737
OpenAlexW2059060500
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas17

In November 1519, Motēuczōma Xōcoyōtl, Marina/Malīntzin and Hernán Cortés met, conversed, and exchanged gifts. According to Cortés's letters to Charles V, Motēuczōma identified him as a returned ancestral chieftain (often considered to be the deity Quetzalcōātl). 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 Motēuczōma gave Cortés the vestments of the gods in order to transform him into a tēīxīptla, a localized deity embodiment, as a precursor to possible sacrifice. Alphabetic accounts of their meeting describe Mesoamericans identifying Cortés and his companions as tēteoh (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 complicates—or perhaps clarifies—their reading by acknowledging that they both betray Mesoamericans and belie Europeans

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Linguistics · Literature · Political science · Politics · Sacrifice · Sociology · Visual arts · History · Latin American history and culture · Law · Philosophy