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==Mythology== Many gods in the pantheon of deities of the Aztecs were inclined to have a fondness for a particular aspect of warfare. However, Huitzilopochtli was known as the primary god of war in ancient Mexico.<ref>{{cite book |last=Diaz de Castillo |first=Bernal |title=The True History of the Conquest of New Spain |pages=206}} Diaz says that upon hearing of Cortezes’ victory over the Cholullans he immediately ordered a number of Indians to be sacrificed to the warrior god Huitzilopochtli.</ref> Since he was the patron god of the Mexica, he was credited with both the victories and defeats that the Mexica people had on the battlefield. The people had to make sacrifices to him to protect the Aztec from infinite night.<ref>{{cite book |last=Read |first=Kay Almere |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y053PeFmS5UC |title=Mesoamerican Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-19-514909-8 |location=Oxford |pages=193 |url-access=registration}}</ref> According to [[Miguel León-Portilla]], in this new vision from Tlacaelel, the warriors that died in battle and women who died in childbirth would go to serve Huitzilopochtli in his palace (in the south, or left).<ref>{{cite book|last=Coe|first=Michael D.|title=Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs|year=2008|publisher=Thames & Hudson|location=London|pages=211}}</ref> From a description in the ''[[Florentine Codex]]'', Huitzilopochtli was so bright that the warrior souls had to use their shields to protect their eyes. They could only see the god through the arrow holes in their shields, so it was the bravest warrior who could see him best. Warriors and women who died during childbirth were transformed into hummingbirds upon death and went to join Huitzilopochtli.<ref>{{cite book|last=Coe|first=Michael D.|title=Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs|year=2008|publisher=Thames & Hudson|location=London|pages=204}}</ref> As the precise studies of Johanna Broda have shown, the creation myth consisted of “several layers of symbolism, ranging from a purely historical explanation to one in terms of cosmovision and possible astronomical content.”<ref>{{cite book|last=Broda|first=Johanna|title=Cosmovision, Ritual E Identidad de Los Pueblos Indigenas de Mexico|year=2001|publisher=Fondo de Cultura Economica USA|isbn=9789681661786}}</ref> At one level, Huitzilopochtli's birth and victorious battle against the four hundred children represent the character of the solar region of the Aztecs in that the daily sunrise was viewed as a celestial battle against the moon (Coyolxauhqui) and the stars (Centzon Huitznahua).<ref name="Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of the E"/> Another version of the myth, found in the historical chronicles of Diego Duran and Alvarado Tezozomoc, tells the story with strong historical allusion and portrays two Aztec factions in ferocious battle. The leader of one group, Huitzilopochtli, defeats the warriors of a woman leader, Coyolxauh, and tears open their breasts and eats their hearts.<ref>{{cite book|last=de San Anton Munon Chimalpahin|first=Don Domingo|title=Codex Chimalpahin, Volume 2: Society and Politics in Mexico Tenochtitlan, Tlatelolco, Texcoco, Culhuacan, and Other Nahua Altepetl in Central Mexico|year=1997|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|location=Oklahoma|isbn=9780806129501}}</ref> Both versions tell of the origin of human sacrifice at the sacred place, Coatepec, during the rise of the Aztec nation and at the foundation of Tenochtitlan.<ref name="Carrasco 1982 167"/> === Origins of Tenochtitlan === [[File:TeocalliGuerra_Sagrada.jpg|thumb|The founding of the Aztec capital [[Tenochtitlan]]; An eagle representing Huitzilopochtli, which exhales the atl-tlachinolli (war symbol), is perched on a [[Nopal|nopal cactus]]. Teocalli of the Sacred War, sculpted in 1325.]] There are several legends and myths of Huitzilopochtli. According to the ''[[Aubin Codex]]'', the Aztecs originally came from a place called [[Aztlán]]. They lived under the ruling of a powerful elite called the "[[Azteca Chicomoztoca]]". Huitzilopochtli ordered them to abandon Aztlán and find a new home. He also ordered them never to call themselves Aztec; instead they should be called "Mexica."<ref>{{cite book|last=Coe|first=Michael D.|title=Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs|year=2008|publisher=Thames & Hudson|location=London|pages=187}}</ref> Huitzilopochtli guided them through the journey. For a time, Huitzilopochtli left them in the charge of his sister, [[Malinalxochitl]], who, according to legend, founded Malinalco, but the Aztecs resented her ruling and called back Huitzilopochtli. He put his sister to sleep and ordered the Aztecs to leave the place. When she woke up and realized she was alone, she became angry and desired revenge. She gave birth to a son called [[Copil (son of Malinalxochitl)|Copil]]. When he grew up, he confronted Huitzilopochtli, who had to kill him. Huitzilopochtli then took his heart out and threw it in the middle of [[Lake Texcoco]]. Many years later, Huitzilopochtli ordered the Aztecs to search for Copil's heart and build their city over it. The sign would be an eagle perched on a cactus, eating a precious serpent, and the place would become their permanent home.<ref>{{cite book|last=Read|first=Kay Almere|title=Mesoamerican Mythologies: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America|year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|pages=193}}</ref> After much traveling, they arrived at the area which would eventually be [[Tenochtitlan]] on an island in the Lago Texcoco of the Valley of Mexico.
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