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...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bassett, Molly H. 1980- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis [2012]
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)
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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 complicates—or perhaps clarifies—their reading by acknowledging that they both betray Mesoamericans and belie Europeans.
ISSN:1751-8342
Contains:Enthalten in: Material religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.2752/175183412X13522006994737