Editing Huītzilōpōchtli

{{Short description|Aztec war and solar deity}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Aztec
| name = Huitzilopochtli
| image = Huitzilopochtli V.png
| alt = 
| caption = Huitzilopochtli as depicted in the [[Codex Borbonicus]]
| member_of = the [[Tezcatlipocas]]
| other_names = Blue Tezcatlipoca, Omiteotl, Mextli, Mexi, Huitzitlon, Huitzilton, Tzintzuni, Huitzi
| abode = {{Plain list|
* [[Thirteen Heavens|Ilhuicatl-Teteocan]]<ref name="NahoaMythology"/> (Twelfth Heaven)
* [[Thirteen Heavens|Ilhuicatl-Xoxoauhco]]<ref name="NahoaMythology"/> (Seventh Heaven)
* the [[South]]<ref name="NahoaMythology"/>
}}
| symbol = [[Hummingbird]]<ref name="NahoaMythology"/>
| parents = {{Plain list|
* [[Ometecuhtli]] and [[Omecihuatl]] (Codex Zumarraga)<ref name="NahoaMythology">{{cite book|author=Cecilio A. Robelo|title=Diccionario de Mitología Nahoa|url=|date=1985|publisher=Editorial Porrúa|isbn=970-07-3149-9|lang=spanish|pages=193, 194, 1985, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202}}</ref>
* [[Mixcoatl]] and [[Coatlicue]] (Codex Florentine)<ref name="NahoaMythology"/>
}}
| siblings = {{Plain list|
* [[Quetzalcoatl]], [[Xipe-Totec]], [[Tezcatlipoca]] (Codex Zumarraga)<ref name="NahoaMythology"/>
* [[Coyolxauhqui]], [[Centzon Huitznahuac]] (Codex Florentine)<ref name="NahoaMythology"/>
* [[Centzon Mimixcoa]] (Codex Ramirez)<ref>{{cite book|author=Guilhem Olivier|title=Cacería, Sacrificio y Poder en Mesoamérica: Tras las Huellas de Mixcóatl, 'Serpiente de Nube'|url=|date=2015|publisher=Fondo de Cultura Económica|isbn=978-607-16-3216-6|lang=Spanish}}</ref>
* [[Malinalxochitl]] (Codex Azcatitlan)<ref name="NahoaMythology"/>
}}
| children = None
| gender = [[Male]]
| region = [[Mesoamerica]]
| ethnic_group = [[Aztec]], ([[Mexica]])
| festivals = [[Aztec calendar|Panquetzaliztli]]
| deity_of = Patron God of the [[Mexica]]
God of Sun and War
Ruler of the [[South]]<ref name="NahoaMythology"/>
}}

'''Huitzilopochtli''' ({{langx|nci|Huītzilōpōchtli}}, {{IPA|nah|wiːt͡siloːˈpoːt͡ʃt͡ɬi|IPA|Witsilopochtli.ogg}}) is the [[Solar deity|solar]] and [[war deity]] of [[sacrifice]] in [[Aztec religion]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Teteo |url=https://teochan.org/the-teteo.html |access-date=2023-06-20 |website=Teochan |language=en}}</ref> He was also the [[patron god]] of the [[Aztec]]s and their capital city,  [[Tenochtitlan]]. He wielded [[Xiuhcoatl]], the fire serpent, as a weapon, thus also associating Huitzilopochtli with fire.

The [[Spanish Empire|Spaniards]] recorded the deity's name as ''Huichilobos''. During their discovery and [[conquest of the Aztec Empire]], they wrote that [[Human sacrifice in Aztec culture|human sacrifice]] was common in worship ceremonies. These took place frequently throughout the region. When performed, typically multiple victims were sacrificed per day at any one of the numerous temples.<ref>{{cite book|author=Bernal Diaz del Castillo|title=The True History of The Conquest of New Spain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kMhgDwAAQBAJ|year=2012|publisher=Hackett Publishing Company, Incorporated|isbn=978-1-60384-817-6}}</ref>

==Etymology==
There continues to be disagreement about the full significance of Huītzilōpōchtli's name.<ref>{{cite book |last=Karttunen|first=Frances|title=An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl|url=https://archive.org/details/analyticaldictio00kart|url-access=limited|year=1992|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0-8061-2421-6|pages=[https://archive.org/details/analyticaldictio00kart/page/n62 91]}}</ref> Generally it is agreed that there are two elements, {{lang|nci|huītzilin}} "[[hummingbird]]" and {{lang|nci|ōpōchtli}} "left hand side." The name is often translated as "Left-Handed Hummingbird" or "Hummingbird of the South" on the basis that [[Aztec mythology|Aztec cosmology]] associated the south with the left hand side of the body.<ref>aunque el término ha sido traducido habitualmente como 'colibrí zurdo' o 'colibrí del sur', existe desacuerdo entorno al significado ya que el ''ōpōchtli'' 'parte izquierda' es el modificado y no el modificador por estar a la derecha, por lo que la traducción literal sería 'parte izquierda de colibrí', ver por ejemplo, F. Karttunen (1983), p. 91</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Huitzilopochtli|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Huitzilopochtli|website=Encyclopaedia Britannica|access-date=14 May 2018}}</ref>

However, [[Frances Karttunen]] points out that in [[Classical Nahuatl]] compounds are usually [[head final]], implying that a more accurate translation may be "the left (or south) side of the hummingbird".

The hummingbird was spiritually important in Aztec culture. [[Diego Durán]] describes what appears to be the hummingbird hibernating in a tree, somewhat like the [[common poorwill]] does. He writes, "It appears to be dead, but at the advent of spring, ... the little bird is reborn."<ref>{{cite book|author=Diego Durán|author-link=Diego Durán|year=1971 |title=Book of Gods and Rites |translator=Fernando Horcasitas and Doris Heyden |publisher=[[University of Oklahoma Press]] |lccn=73-88147 |quote=For six months of the year [the huitzitzilin] is dead, and for six it is alive. And, as I have said, when it feels that winter is coming, it goes to a perennial, leafy tree and with its natural instinct seeks out a crack. It stands upon a twig next to that crack, pushes its beak into it as far as possible, and stays there for six months of the year—the entire duration of the winter—nourishing itself with the essence of the tree. It appears to be dead, but at the advent of spring, when the tree acquires new life and gives forth new leaves, the little bird, with the aid of the tree's life, is reborn. It goes from there to breed, and consequently the Indians say that it dies and is reborn.}}</ref>

==Origin stories==
[[File:Blue_and_Red_Tezcatlipocas.jpg|left|thumb|Blue and Red [[Aztec creator gods|Tezcatlipocas]] in the [[Codex Fejérváry-Mayer]].]]
There are a handful of origin mythologies describing the deity's beginnings. One story tells of the cosmic creation and Huitzilopochtli's role in it. According to this legend, he was the smallest son of four — his parents being the creator couple of the [[Ōmeteōtl]] ([[Tōnacātēcuhtli]] and [[Tōnacācihuātl]]) while his brothers were [[Quetzalcoatl|Quetzalcōātl]] ("Precious Serpent" or "Quetzal-Feathered Serpent"), [[Xipe Totec|Xīpe Tōtec]] ("Our Lord Flayed"), and [[Tezcatlipoca|Tezcatlipōca]] ("Smoking Mirror"). His mother and father instructed him and Quetzalcoatl to bring order to the world. Together, Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl created fire, the first male and female humans, the Earth, and the Sun.<ref name="Read 2000 193">{{cite book|last=Read|first=Kay Almere|title=Mesoamerican Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y053PeFmS5UC|url-access=registration|year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|pages=193|isbn=978-0-19-514909-8 }}</ref>

Another origin story tells of a fierce goddess, [[Coatlicue]], being impregnated as she was sweeping by a ball of feathers on Mount Coatepec ("Serpent Hill"; near [[Tula (Mesoamerican site)|Tula]], [[Hidalgo (state)|Hidalgo]]).<ref>{{cite book|last=Coe|first=Michael D.|title=Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs|year=2008|publisher=Thames & Hudson|location=London|pages=216}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=193tKPdM-ykC&pg=PA584|title=The History of the Indies of New Spain |first=Fray Diego |last=Durán |author-link=Diego Durán |page=584 |orig-year=1581 |publisher=[[University of Oklahoma Press]] |date=October 1994 |others=Translated by [[Doris Heyden|Heyden, Doris]] |isbn=978-0-8061-2649-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://pages.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/nahuatl/ReadingCoatlicue.html |title=Readings in Classical Nahuatl: The Murders of Coatlicue and Coyolxauhqui |website=[[UCSD]] |first=David K. |last=Jordan |date=January 23, 2016 |access-date=August 12, 2016}}</ref> Her other children, who were already fully grown, were the four hundred male Centzonuitznaua and the female deity [[Coyolxāuhqui|Coyolxauhqui]]. These children, angered by the manner by which their mother became impregnated, conspired to kill her.<ref name="Coe 2008 217">{{cite book|last=Coe|first=Michael D.|title=Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs|year=2008|publisher=Thames & Hudson|location=London|pages=217}}</ref> Huitzilopochtli burst forth from his mother's womb in full armor and fully grown, or in other versions of the story, burst forth from the womb and immediately put on his gear.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Birth of Huitzilopochtli, Patron God of the Aztecs|url=http://www.phs.poteau.k12.ok.us/williame/APAH/readings/The%20Birth%20of%20Huitzilophochtli,%20Patron%20God%20of%20the%20Aztecs.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.phs.poteau.k12.ok.us/williame/APAH/readings/The%20Birth%20of%20Huitzilophochtli,%20Patron%20God%20of%20the%20Aztecs.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|website=Porteau High School|access-date=14 May 2018}}</ref> He attacked his older brothers and sister, defending his mother by beheading his sister and casting her body from the mountain top. He also chased after his brothers, who fled from him and became scattered all over the sky.<ref name="Read 2000 193"/>

Huitzilopochtli is seen as the sun in mythology, while his many male siblings are perceived as the stars and his sister as the moon. In the Aztec worldview, this is the reason why the Sun is constantly chasing the Moon and stars. It is also why it was so important to provide tribute for Huitzilopochtli as sustenance for the Sun.<ref name="Coe 2008 217"/> If Huitzilopochtli did not have enough strength to battle his siblings, they would destroy their mother and thus the world.

==History==
[[File:Huitzilopochtli, the Principal Aztec God WDL6725.png|thumb|right|Huitzilopochtli, as depicted in the ''[[Codex Tovar]]'']]
Huitzilopochtli was the patron god of the [[Mexica]] tribe. Originally, he was of little importance to the [[Nahua peoples|Nahuas]], but after the rise of the Aztecs, [[Tlacaelel]] reformed their religion and put Huitzilopochtli at the same level as [[Quetzalcoatl]], [[Tlaloc]], and [[Tezcatlipoca]], making him a solar god. Through this, Huitzilopochtli replaced [[Nanahuatzin]], the solar god from the Nahua legend. Huitzilopochtli was said to be in a constant struggle with the darkness and required nourishment in the form of sacrifices to ensure the sun would survive the cycle of 52 years, which was the basis of many [[Mesoamerican mythology|Mesoamerican myths]].

There were 18 especially holy festive days, and only one of them was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli. This celebration day, known as Toxcatl,<ref>{{cite book|last=Read|first=Kay Almere|title=Mesoamerican Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y053PeFmS5UC|url-access=registration|year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|pages=194|isbn=978-0-19-514909-8 }}</ref> falls within the fifteenth month of the Mexican calendar. During the festival, captives and slaves were brought forth and slain ceremoniously.<ref>{{cite book|last=Brinton|first=Daniel|title=Rig Veda Americanus|url=https://archive.org/details/rigvedaamerican00bringoog|year=1890|location=Philadelphia|pages=[https://archive.org/details/rigvedaamerican00bringoog/page/n29 18]}}</ref>

In the book ''El Calendario Mexica y la Cronografia'' by Rafael Tena and published by the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico, the author gives the last day of the Nahuatl month Panquetzaliztli as the date of the celebration of the rebirth of the Lord Huitzilopochtli on top of Coatepec (Snake Hill); December 9 in the [[Julian calendar]] or December 19 in the [[Gregorian calendar]] with the variant of December 18 in [[leap year]]s.

=== Sacrifice ===
{{Main|Human sacrifice in Aztec culture}}

[[File:Human_sacrifice_(Codex_Laud,_f.8).png|thumb|Human sacrifice depicted in the [[Codex Laud]]]]
Ritual sacrifice and self bloodletting were key offerings to Huitzilopochtli. The Aztecs performed ritual self-sacrifice (also called autosacrifice or blood-letting) on a daily basis.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Self-sacrifice |url=https://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/aztec-life/self-sacrifice |access-date=2023-06-20 |website=www.mexicolore.co.uk}}</ref> The Aztecs believed that Huitzilopochtli needed daily nourishment (''tlaxcaltiliztli'') in the form of human blood and hearts and that they, as “people of the sun,” were required to provide Huitzilopochtli with his sustenance.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Huitzilopochtli {{!}} Aztec God of War & Sun Worship {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Huitzilopochtli |access-date=2023-06-20 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> 

When the Aztecs sacrificed people to Huitzilopochtli, the victim would be placed on a sacrificial stone.<ref>[[Bernardino de Sahagún]], ''Historia General de las Cosas de la Nueva España'' (op. cit.), p. 76</ref> The priest would then cut through the abdomen with an obsidian or flint blade.<ref>Sahagún, Ibid.</ref> The heart would be torn out still beating and held towards the sky in honor to the Sun-God. The body would then be pushed down the pyramid where the Coyolxauhqui stone could be found. The Coyolxauhqui Stone recreates the story of Coyolxauhqui,  Huitzilopochtli's sister who was dismembered at the base of a mountain, just as the sacrificial victims were.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carrasco |first=David |title=Quetzalcoatl and the irony of empire: myths and prophecies in the Aztec tradition |date=1982 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0226094878 |location=Chicago |oclc=8626972}}</ref> The body would be carried away and either cremated or given to the warrior responsible for the capture of the victim. He would either cut the body in pieces and send them to important people as an [[Human trophy taking in Mesoamerica|offering]], or use the pieces for ritual [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]]. The warrior would thus ascend one step in the hierarchy of the Aztec social classes, a system that rewarded successful warriors.<ref>{{cite book |last=Duverger |first=Christian |title=La flor letal: economía del sacrificio azteca |publisher=[[Fondo de Cultura Económica]] |year=2005 |pages=83–93}}</ref>

During the festival of Panquetzaliztli, of which Huitzilopochtli was the patron, sacrificial victims were adorned in the manner of Huitzilopochtli's costume and blue body paint, before their hearts would be sacrificially removed. Representations of Huitzilopochtli called teixiptla were also worshipped, the most significant being the one at the Templo Mayor which was made of dough mixed with sacrificial blood.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Boone |first=Elizabeth |title=Incarnations of the Aztec Supernatural: The Image of Huitzilopochtli in Mexico and Europe |journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society |volume=79}}</ref>
[[File:COM_V2_D273_Prisoners_for_sacrifice_were_decorated.png|right|thumb|262x262px|Prisoners for sacrifice were decorated.]]
Warriors who died in battle or as sacrifices to Huitzilopochtli were called ''quauhteca'' (“the eagle’s people”).<ref name=":0" /> War was an important source of both human and material tribute. Human tribute was used for sacrificial purposes because human blood was believed to be extremely important, and thus powerful. According to Aztec mythology, Huitzilopochtli needed blood as sustenance in order to continue to keep his sister and many brothers at bay as he chased them through the sky.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Michael E. |title=The Aztecs |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2011}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Codex Magliabechiano (141 cropped).jpg|Human sacrifice as shown in the [[Aztec codices#Codex Magliabechiano|Codex Magliabechiano]]
File:Kodeks tudela 21.jpg|''[[Codex Tudela]]''.
</gallery>

==The Templo Mayor==
The most important and powerful structure in Tenochtitlan is the Templo Mayor. Its importance as the sacred center is reflected in the fact that it was enlarged frontally eleven times during the two hundred years of its existence.<ref name="Carrasco 1982 167">{{cite book|last=Carrasco|first=David|title=Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of the Empire|year=1982|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|location=Boulder, Colorado|isbn=978-0226094878|pages=167}}</ref> The [[Templo Mayor|Great Temple]] of Tenochtitlan was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli and [[Tlaloc]], the rain god. 16th century [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] friar [[Diego Durán]] wrote, "These two gods were always meant to be together, since they were considered companions of equal power."<ref>Diego Durán, ''Book of Gods and Rites''</ref> The Templo Mayor consisted of a pyramidal platform, on top of which were twin temples, one painted with blue stripes and the other painted red. The red shrine, on the south side, was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, while the blue shrine to the north was dedicated to Tlaloc.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cartwright|first1=Mark|title=Huitzilopochtli|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Huitzilopochtli/|website=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=14 May 2018}}</ref> That these two deities were on opposite sides of the Great Temple is very representative of the Aztec dichotomy that the deities represent. Tlaloc, as the rain god, represented fertility and growth, while Huitzilopochtli, as the sun god, represented war and sacrifice.<ref>{{cite book|last=Coe|first=Michael D.|title=Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs|year=2008|publisher=Thames & Hudson|location=London|pages=221}}</ref>

==The Coyolxauhqui stone==
The [[Coyolxauhqui stone]] was found directly at the base of the stairway leading up to Huitzilopochtli's temple. On both sides of the stairway's base were two large grinning serpent heads. The image is clear. The Templo Mayor is the image of Coatepec or Serpent Mountain where the divine battle took place. Just as Huitzilopochtli triumphed at the top of the mountain, while his sister was dismembered and fell to pieces below, so Huitzilopochtli's temple and icon sat triumphantly at the top of the Templo Mayor while the carving of the dismembered goddess lay far below.<ref name="Carrasco 1982 167"/> This drama of sacrificial dismemberment was vividly repeated in some of the offerings found around the Coyolxauhqui stone in which the decapitated skulls of young women were placed. This would suggest that there was a ritual reenactment of the myth at the dedication of the stone sometime in the latter part of the fifteenth century.<ref name="Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of the E">{{cite book|last=Carrasco|first=David|title=Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of the Empire|year=1982|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Boulder, Colorado|isbn=978-0226094878|pages=167}}</ref>

==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.

==Iconography==
[[File:Huitzilopochtli in the Codex Borbonicus.jpg|left|thumb|Huitzilopochtli in the Codex Borbonicus.|241x241px]]
[[File:Huitztlampa.jpg|thumb|255x255px|Xiuhtecuhtli in the [[Codex Borgia]].]]
In art and [[iconography]], Huitzilopochtli could be represented either as a [[hummingbird]] or as an anthropomorphic figure with just the feathers of such on his head and left leg, a black face, and holding a scepter shaped like a snake and a mirror. According to the Florentine Codex, Huitzilopochtli's body was painted blue.<ref name="Florentine Codex">{{cite book|last1=Sahagún|first1=Bernardino|title=Florentine Codex|publisher=Miguel Leon-Portilla|at=Book III, Chapter 1}}</ref> In the great temple his statue was decorated with cloth, feathers, gold, and jewels, and was hidden behind a curtain to give it more reverence and veneration. Another variation lists him having a face that was marked with yellow and blue stripes and he carries around the fire serpent Xiuhcoatl with him.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://atheism.about.com/od/aztecgodsgoddesses/p/Huitzilopochtli.htm|title=Who Are the Deities of War and Battle?|newspaper=About.com Religion & Spirituality|access-date=2017-02-11|archive-date=2011-09-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110918231807/http://atheism.about.com/od/aztecgodsgoddesses/p/Huitzilopochtli.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to legend, the statue was supposed to be destroyed by the soldier [[Gil González de Benavides]], but it was rescued by a man called [[Tlatolatl]]. The statue appeared some years later during an investigation by [[Juan de Zumárraga|Bishop Zummáraga]] in the 1530s, only to be lost again. There is speculation that the statue still exists in a cave somewhere in the [[Anahuac Valley]].

He always had a blue-green hummingbird helmet in any of the depictions found. In fact, his hummingbird helmet was the one item that consistently defined him as Huitzilopochtli, the sun god, in artistic renderings.<ref>{{cite book|last=Read|first=Key Almere|title=Mesoamerican Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y053PeFmS5UC|url-access=registration|year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|pages=195|isbn=978-0-19-514909-8 }}</ref> He is usually depicted as holding a shield adorned with balls of eagle feathers, a homage to his mother and the story of his birth.<ref name="Florentine Codex"/> He also holds the blue snake, [[Xiuhcoatl]], in his hand in the form of an [[Spear-thrower|atlatl]].<ref>{{cite web|title=God of the Month: Huitzilopochtli|url=http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/gods/god-of-the-month-huitzilopochtli|website=Mexicolore}}</ref>

==Calendar==
[[Image:Huitzolopochtli de bry.jpg|thumb|right|An imaginative European depiction of an Aztec shrine. The idol of Huitzilopochtli is seated in the background. (1602)]]

[[Diego Durán]] described the festivities for Huitzilopochtli. [[Aztec calendar|Panquetzaliztli]] (November 9 to November 28) was the Aztec month dedicated to Huitzilopochtli. People decorated their homes and trees with paper flags; there were ritual races, processions, dances, songs, prayers, and finally human sacrifices. This was one of the more important Aztec festivals, and the people prepared for the whole month. They fasted or ate very little; a statue of the god was made with [[amaranth]] ''(huautli)'' seeds and honey, and at the end of the month, it was cut into small pieces so everybody could eat a little piece of the god. After the Spanish conquest, cultivation of amaranth was outlawed, while some of the festivities were [[:wikt:subsume|subsumed]] into the [[Christmas]] celebration.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}}

According to the ''[[Ramírez Codex]]'', in Tenochtitlan approximately sixty prisoners were sacrificed at the festivities. Sacrifices were reported to be made in other Aztec cities, including [[Tlatelolco (altepetl)|Tlatelolco]], [[Xochimilco]], and [[Texcoco (altepetl)|Texcoco]], but the number is unknown, and no currently available archeological findings confirm this.

For the reconsecration of Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, dedicated to Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli, the Aztecs reported that they sacrificed about 20,400 prisoners over the course of four days. While accepted by some scholars, this claim also has been considered Aztec propaganda. There were 19 altars in the city of Tenochtitlan.

==See also==
* [[History of Mexico City]]
* [[Human sacrifice in Aztec culture]]
* [[List of solar deities]]

== Citations ==
{{Reflist}}

== General and cited references ==
{{refbegin|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book |author=Andrews, J. Richard |author-link= |year=2003 |title=Introduction to Classical Nahuatl |edition= revised |location=Norman |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0-8061-3452-9 |oclc=50090230}}
* {{cite book |author=Boone, Elizabeth Hill |author-link=Elizabeth Hill Boone |year=1989 |title=Incarnations of the Aztec Supernatural: The Image of Huitzilopochtli in Mexico and Europe |series=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 79 part 2 |location=Philadelphia |publisher=[[American Philosophical Society]] |isbn=978-0-87169-792-9 |oclc=20141678}}
* {{cite book|editor=Brinton, Daniel G. |editor-link=Daniel Brinton |year=1890 |title=Rig Veda Americanus. Sacred Songs of the Ancient Mexicans, with a Gloss in Nahuatl |series=Brinton's Library of Aboriginal American Literature, No. VIII |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14993 |format=[[Project Gutenberg]] EBook #14993, online reproduction |location=Philadelphia |publisher=D.G. Brinton|oclc=6979651|language=en, nah}}
* {{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=978-0-8061-2950-1}}
* {{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=978-968-16-6178-6}}
* {{cite book |author=Carrasco, David |year=1982 |title=Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire: Myths and Prophecies in the Aztec Tradition |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-09487-8 |oclc=0226094871}}
* {{cite book |author=Coe, Michael D. |author-link= Michael D. Coe |author2=Rex Koontz |author2-link= |year=2008 |title=Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs |publisher=Thames & Hudson |location=London |isbn=978-0-500-28755-2 |oclc=2008901003}}
* {{cite book |author=Díaz del Castillo, Bernal |author-link=Bernal Díaz del Castillo |year=1963 |orig-year=1632 |title=The Conquest of New Spain |edition= 6th printing (1973) |translator=[[J. M. Cohen]] |series=Penguin Classics|publisher=Penguin Books |location=Harmondsworth, England|isbn=978-0-14-044123-9 |oclc=162351797|title-link=Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España }}
* {{cite book |author=Diego Durán|author-link=Diego Durán|year=1971 |title=Book of Gods and Rites |translator=Fernando Horcasitas and [[Doris Heyden]] |publisher=[[University of Oklahoma Press]] |lccn=73-88147}}
* Elzey, Wayne (1991). "A Hill on a Land Surrounded by Water: An Aztec Story of Origin and Destiny". ''History of Religions'' 31(2): 105–149
* Klein, Cecelia, F. (2008). "A New Interpretation of the Aztec Statue Called Coatlicue, 'Snakes-Her-Skirt{{'"}} Ethnohistory 55(2)
* {{cite book |author=Miller, Mary |author-link=Mary Miller (art historian) |author2=Karl Taube |author2-link=Karl Taube |year=1993 |title=The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion |publisher=Thames & Hudson |location=London |isbn=978-0-500-05068-2 |oclc=27667317 |url=https://archive.org/details/godssymbolsofa00mill }}
* {{cite book |author=Quiñones Keber, Eloise |author-link=Eloise Quiñones Keber |year=1995 |title=Codex Telleriano-Remensis: Ritual, Divination, and History in a Pictorial Aztec Manuscript |others=Michel Besson (illus.) |location=Austin |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0-292-76901-4 |oclc=29600936}}
* {{cite book |author=Read, Kay Almere |year=1998 |title=Time and Sacrifice in the Aztec Cosmos |location=Bloomington |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |isbn=978-0-253-33400-8 |oclc=37909790}}
* {{cite book |author=Read, Kay Almere |author2=Jason J. González |year=2002 |title=Handbook of Mesoamerican Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America |location=Oxford and New York |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-514909-8 |oclc=77857686 |url-access=registration |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y053PeFmS5UC }}
* {{cite book |author=Sahagún, Bernardino de |author-link=Bernardino de Sahagún |year=1950–82 |orig-year=ca. 1540–85 |title=Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain, 13 vols. in 12 |edition= translation of ''Historia General de las Cosas de la Nueva España'' |others=[[Charles E. Dibble]] and [[Arthur J. O. Anderson]] (eds., trans., notes and illus.) |series=vols. I-XII |location=Santa Fe, NM and Salt Lake City |publisher=[[School of American Research]] and the University of Utah Press |isbn=978-0-87480-082-1 |oclc=276351|title-link=Florentine Codex }}
* {{cite book|author=Spence, Lewis|author-link=Lewis Spence |year=1913 |title=The Myths of Mexico and Peru |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/mmp/index.htm |edition= online reproduction |location=London |publisher=G. G. Harrap and Co. |oclc=710093|access-date=2008-05-14}}
* {{cite book |author=Taube, Karl A. |author-link=Karl Taube |year=1993 |title=Aztec and Maya Myths |edition=4th University of Texas printing |location=Austin |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0-292-78130-6 |oclc=29124568 |url=https://archive.org/details/aztecmayamyths00taub }}
* {{cite web |author=Wimmer, Alexis |year=2006 |url=http://sites.estvideo.net/malinal/nahuatl.page.html |title=Dictionnaire de la langue nahuatl classique |format=online version, incorporating reproductions from ''Dictionnaire de la langue nahuatl ou mexicaine'' [1885], by [[Rémi Siméon]]|language=fr, nah}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120716212000/http://www.scns.com/earthen/other/seanachaidh/godaztec.html The Gods and Goddesses of the Aztecs]
* [http://cr.middlebury.edu/public/russian/bulgakov/public_html/Uitzilopochtli.html Short description and an image]

{{Aztec mythology}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huitzilopochtli}}
[[Category:Avian humanoids]]
[[Category:Aztec gods]]
[[Category:Mesoamerican deities]]
[[Category:Solar gods]]
[[Category:War gods]]
[[Category:Tutelary gods]]