Quetzalcoatl y los mitos fundadores de Mesoamerica (review)

This most recent book about Quetzalcoatl is not the first foray of Enrique Florescano into the issue, nor in all likelihood will it be the last. Here, Florescano investigates the pervasive role that Quetzalcoatl played in foundation myths in Mesoamerica. In essence, he posits that the mythical man-god, Quetzalcoatl, was "born" not in Tula, as has been proposed since the 1940s, but rather in Teotihuacan, and is thus a much older legend than currently accepted.

Florescano divides his work into nine chapters. In the first, Florescano considers corn as the essential element in Mesoamerican culture. More precisely, he looks at the iconography of the corn seed and the corncob. He links these to the pervasive god depicted in Olmec culture, frequently called a were-jaguar, which Florescano converts into an early corn god. In the second chapter he considers the cycle of death and rebirth of the maize god among the Maya. He focuses especially on the legends of the young maize god as well as the other stories of rebirth and regeneration from the Popol Vuh. The death and resurrection of the maize god become central to the myth cycles of Mesoamerica, and also parts of the maintenance of the cosmic equilibrium that sustains life.

The third chapter changes focus to ancient Tollan. Florescano posits that the Tollan of the myths is not Tula, Hidalgo, as has been accepted for the last few decades, but rather Teotihuacan. Within Nahua legends, Teotihuacan is the place of the creation of the current world, the Fifth Sun. Florescano studies the iconography of Teotihuacan, specifically the figure of Quetzalcoatl and its diaspora throughout Mesoamerica to demonstrate the propagation of its myth culture. Again Quetzalcoatl is closely linked to political theories of power and kingship.

In the fourth chapter, Florescano looks at the presence of the Quetzalcoatl myth in the iconography of several Post-Classic sites, including Xochicalco, Cacaxtla, and Cholula. Chichén Iztá in the ninth through eleventh centuries becomes the "apotheosis" of Quetzalcoatl for Florescano in the fifth chapter. Because of the stylistic similarities, scholars have long linked Tula, Hidalgo, and Chichén Itzá. Florescano argues that the succession came from Teotihuacan to Chichén, and then to Tula. Consequently in the sixth chapter, Florescano looks at Tula, Hidalgo. Specifically he considers the legend of Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, the quasi-historical figure who ruled in Tula. Florescano argues that the presence of the Quetzalcoatl warriors at Chichén was before the rise of the monarch in Tula and that the similarity of names has caused the confusion. Archeological evidence points to Chichén being older than Tula.

With the fall of Tula in about 1150 the legend of the ruler Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, then spreads throughout Mesoamerica. The god associated with him, however, is one of the avatars of Quetzalcoatl, namely Ehecatl, god of wind, whom Florescano argues is one of the gods of creation at Teotihuacan. In the seventh chapter he traces the importance of Ehecatl and his confusion with Quetzalcoatl. Florescano argues that it is Ehecatl, and not actually Quetzalcoatl, that was the god exported from Teotihuacan—Tollan, to Chichén, and who also influenced Tula, Hidalgo. The eighth chapter focuses solely on the representation of Quetzalcoatl among the Mexica. He associates Quetzalcoatl with royalty, lineage, governance, in which Ehecatl is the progenitor and nature god. The ninth chapter serves as the conclusion for the work. He holds that the three images, Ehecatl (god of nature), Quetzalcoatl (emblem of power), and Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl (embodiment of governance), served as metaphors within the Mesoamerican cultures. While rooted in the most ancient myths and beliefs of Mesoamerica, they came to evolve at Teotihuacan, from where they spread throughout the region, to coalesce back in Tula, Hidalgo. From that point the three become interlinked, creating confusion among later scholars.

This is a fascinating and well illustrated work. Florescano has done an impressive amount of research. Nevertheless...