Zoomorphism is the shaping of something or someone in animal form or terms.
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| Quetzalcoatl as a feathered serpent |
Ancient American cultures venerated a god named Quetzalcoatl. Records from the era indicate such a man may have existed, and may even have been the founder of the Toltec empire. Depending if/when Quetzalcoatl lived, a prophecy predicting his return and the end of the Aztec empire corresponds(ish) to the arrival of Herman Cortez. Spanish accounts paint the Aztecs as a bloodthirsty culture. This is also contextualized by the broader claim that when the Aztec empire overthrew the Toltec empire, they did so with a complete rejection of peace and existed as a war-state.
With this broader contextual understanding, the following quote, from a noble Aztec man to his son, does not seem to fit.
"Take great pains to make yourselves friends of God who is in all parts, and is invisible and impalpable, and it is meet that you give Him all your heart and body, and look that you be not proud in your heart, nor yet despair, nor be cowardly of spirit; but that you be humble in your heart and have hope in God. Be at peace with all, shame yourselves before none and to none be disrespectful; respect all, esteem all, defy no one, for no reason affront any person."
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| Sun Stone |
This is the primary reason I dropped my History of Mexico class. I was saddened to see the same demonized depiction of indigenous culture. By portraying the conquered as ignorant and bloodthirsty savages, history seeks to revise one of the most unrecognized injustices committed by people. Okay, maybe the Aztecs did go a little excessive* in the scope of their bloodletting, but if compared to events on the Eastern side of the Atlantic, the extent of Aztec savagery seems, well, a little more civilized.
*Note: since then, the proliferation of modern warfare makes even the craziest of these estimates seem like a joke.
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