Huitzilopochtli: The Aztec Culture

The Aztec’s worshiped many gods (deities). The most worshiped god in the Aztec culture was Huitzilopochtli, whose name meant left handed hummingbird. An interesting characteristic of Huitzilopochtli is he was born full grown. He was the god of sun and war and was a cultural god. Coatlícue, his mother became pregnant by placing feathers under her breasts. When her more than 400 children learned of the pregnancy they were outraged and revolted against her. When Coatlícue was decapitated by her daughter Coyolxauhqui, Huitzilopochtli rose from his mother’s dead body with his weapons and beheaded his sister, Coyolxauhqui. The legend says she was behind the revolt and encouraged the killing of their mother. Huitzilopochtli threw Coyolxauhqui’s decapitated head into the sky to become the moon. Huitzilopochtli was an omen god and the incarnation of the sun. He was the earthly leader in the “days of wandering,” a period in time …show more content…
My impression of the Aztec culture is that even thought they were thought to be barbaric in nature because of their ritualistic killings they were actually very religious and kind. They were well educated and many described them as creative thinkers and mathematicians. This is evident through the engineering marvel of the city they constructed without the use of modern tools or transportation methods. Even though the Aztecs knew of the wheel at the time the city was built, they only used the wheel for toys. The Aztecs had a dynamic agricultural economy focusing primarily on farming. They used the slash and burn farming techniques to grow crops they would use for trade. The Aztecs remain the most extensively documented of all Amerindian civilizations and have been studied by many worldwide. I find it interesting that archeologists are still unearthing Aztec ruins in Mexico