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THE BUTTERFLY BIRD GOD AND HIS MYTH AT TEOTIHUACAN

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2014

Zoltán Paulinyi
Zoltán Paulinyi*
Affiliation:
Facultad de Artes, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 2100, Santiago, Chile
*
E-mail correspondence to: [email protected]
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Abstract

We know little about the gods of the Teotihuacan pantheon and practically nothing of their mythology. Starting from the analysis of a group of murals in Atetelco (Teotihuacan), a partial reconstruction is proposed for a Teotihuacan myth, the principal figure of which has the character of a sun god linked to vegetation. In this proposal, this god descends to the Underworld and is reborn, thus rising out of the depths of the earth. The myth appears to include, moreover, a ballgame in the Underworld and probably a supernatural macaw, linked in some way to the god in question. In my opinion, this is probably a creation myth, with a basic structure bearing a resemblance to that of the Popol Vuh.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , Spring 2014 , pp. 29 - 48
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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