The Myth of Huitzilopochtli: Diachronic and structural interpretation

Authors

  • Igor Seke Mexico City Area

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21301/EAP.v10i1.5

Keywords:

myth, Huicilopochtli, Aztecs, formal analysis, structural analysis, tecautil, omen, social norms

Abstract

The paper investigates the myth about the birth of Huicilopochtli, the deity considered by the Spanish conquistadors to be the supreme god of the Aztecs. Aztec myths are even today usually interpreted diachronically, strictly following the sequence of events. Structural analysis, on the other hand, in attempting to uncover the message a myth holds, doesn’t deem the sequence of events in the story important, but rather, studies the interrelation of chains of essential units of myth – mythemes. These two kinds of analysis provide two different interpretations of the same myth: while formal analysis gives a cosmological interpretation, structural analysis points to the powerful social contradictions which this myth tries to reconcile.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Antonijević, Dragana. 2010. Ogledi iz antropologije semiotike i folklora. Beograd: Srpski geneaološki centar.

Escalante Gonzalbo, Pablo (coord.). 2012. Historia de la vida cotidiana en México, Mesoamérica y los ámbitos indígenas de la Nueva España I. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.

Johansson, Patrick K. 2007. Arqueologia Mexicana, Edicion Especial Codices, nr. 26. México.

Ковачевић, Иван. 2001. Семиологија мита и ритуала I. Београд: Српски генеаолошки центар.

Kovačević, Ivan. 2006. Mit i umetnost. Beograd: Srpski genealoški centar.

Leon-Portilla, Miguel, ed. 2011. Huehuetlahtolli, Testimonios de la antigua palabra. Recogidos por fray Andres de Olmos hacia 1535. Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Economica.

Leon-Portilla, Miguel. 2008. Vision de los vencidos. Mexico: UNAM.

Levi-Stros, Klod. 1977. Strukturalna antropologija. Zagreb: Stvarnost.

Pastrana-Flores, Miguel. 2014. La idea de tetzahuitl en la historiografía novohispana. De la tradición náhuatl a la Ilustración. Comentarios preliminares. Estudios de cultura náhuatl 47, enero – junio de 2014.

Prop, Vladimir. 1982. Morfologija bajke. Beograd: Prosveta – XX vek.

Rodriguez-Shadow, Maria J. 2000. La Mujer Azteca. Mexico: UAEM.

de Sahagun, Bernandino. 2006. Historia de las cosas de Nueva España. México: Editorial Porrua.

Simeon, Remi. 2010. Diccionario de la lengua Náhuatl o Mexicana, Siglo XXI Editores.

Soustelle, Jacques. 1974. La vida cotidiana de los Aztecas. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.

Taube, Karl. 1996. Mitos Aztecas y Mayas. Madrid: Ediciones Akal.

Downloads

Published

2015-03-19

How to Cite

Seke, Igor. 2015. “The Myth of Huitzilopochtli: Diachronic and Structural Interpretation”. Etnoantropološki Problemi Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology 10 (1):95-111. https://doi.org/10.21301/EAP.v10i1.5.