TIME PERIODS CULTURES 2000100 BCE FORMATIVE Olmec Zapotec Earliest Mesoamerican high civilization monumental scultures jaguar shamans ball game human sacrifice ID: 694118
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Slide1
233S16 FINAL REVIEWSlide2
MESOAMERICAN MATERIALSlide3
TIME
PERIODS
CULTURES
2000-100 BCE
FORMATIVE
Olmec
___________
Zapotec
Earliest Mesoamerican high civilization: monumental
scultures
, jaguar shamans, ball game, human sacrifice
________________
Early Mesoamerican civilization : astronomical observatories
100 BCE – 900 CE
CLASSIC
Mayan
___________
Teotihuacan
Popol
Vuh
________________
City "Where Gods Were Made"; pan-Mesoamerican shrine
900-1519 CE
POSTCLASSIC
Aztec
Leyenda
de los Soles
1521...
POST-CONQUEST
Cortés
and
defeat of
Motecuhzoma
IISlide4
Mesoamerican Themes
• astronomical observation
• pyramidal architecture
• shamanistic animal cults
• oppositional structures
• ball game
• blood-letting and human sacrifice
• agricultural symbolism (maize)
• regenerationSlide5
Emergence Myths
Chicomoztoc
:
Mesoamerican Cave of Origins
Tree of Origin
:
example of
axis mundiSlide6
Mayan Cosmogony:
Popol
Vuh
STAGES
DETAILS
Plumed Serpent + Heart of Sky
earth
created by power of word
animals
animals of forests, animals of mountains assigned habitats and habits (failure)
humans 1
mud creature (failure)
humans 2
wood people (failure)
humans 3maize people
ANIMALnoise- praisewildernesseaten
MUD-speech- awarenessimmobilesexless
WOOD+ speech- awarenessmobilegendereddry
MAIZE
speech
awareness
mobile
gendered
wet
full
memory
respectfulSlide7
Aztec Cosmogony: Leyenda
de los Soles
Primal Duality
Ometeotl
: God of Duality
Creation of 4
Tezcatlipocas
Xipe
Totec
, Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli OR
Mictlantecuhtli (Death)
Creation of Suns 1-4
each destroyed by excess of own power
Creation of 5
th worldcooperation between Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl
sacrifice of caiman (Cipactli)blood-letting by gods to feed earthDescent into MictlanQuetzalcoatl and spirit-double (nahualli) Xolotl retrieve bones
Mountain of Sustenancecontains maizeQuetzalcoatl fails to retrieve itNanahuatzin (Lame Pimply God) splits mountain with lightningservants of Tlaloc (Rain God) steal maizehuman beings made from ground maize + divine blood at Tamoanchan (blood tree)
Creation of pulqueQuetzalcoatl elopes with Mayahuel to Tamoanchan (blood tree)star-demons (tzitzimime) murder Mayahuelmaguey grows from corpse; sap used to make
medicinal beverage
pulque
Creation of 5
th
Sun
Tecuciztecat
l
(Rich God) and
Nanahuatzin
(Poor God) compete at
Teotihuacan
Nanahuatzin
sacrifices
himself to
become
Sun;
Tecuciztecatl
Moon
Quetzalcoatl
sacrifices other gods and himself to feed and move Sun and MoonSlide8
Quetzalcoatl (
Plumed Serpent
)
• quetzal serpent
• rain and wind (Quetzalcoatl +
Ehecatl
[Wind God])
• daytime (Day Sun)
• creator and culture-bringer (bones, maize, maguey)• nahualli dog (Xolotl
)• as Topiltzin
-Quetzalcoatl, priest of Tula, corrupted by Titlacauan
(-Tezcatlipoca) with pulque
•
Topiltzin
disappears; Motecuhzoma suspects Cortés may be return of godSlide9
Tezcatlipoca
(Smoking Mirror)
• original (Black) created god
• cooperates with
Quetzalcoatl
to create world
• associations: night (Night Sun), earth, death, jaguar (
nahualli
), obsidian (divination), smoke, mirrors (divination), magic, drunkenness, sexual debauchery (lameness, fire, lightning), war, kingship
• Tezcatlipoca (as
Titlacauan) corrupts Quetzalcoatl-
Topiltzin with pulque
, causing fall of city of TulaSlide10
Huitzilopochtli and Aztec Migration
• Migration as “external motivation”: fated, destined, divinely supported.
• Migration charts genealogical, physical, topographical ancestry.
• Migration establishes itinerary of significant places,
sacralizing
space.
• Migration establishes political history of relations, legitimizing wars and alliances.
• Route of migration provides map for ritual reenactment.Slide11
Huitzilopochtli
and Aztec Migration
• Aztecs leave
Aztlan
led
by bodiless
Huitzilopochtli
• group splits into two tribes
• Coatlicue (Snake Skirt Woman)
impregnated by feather• Huitzilopochtli
born and attacked by 400 step-brothers and Coyolxauhqui
(She Whose Face is Adorned with Bells)
• death of
Coyolxauhqui
~ defeat of moon by sun• sculptured slab of dismembered Coyolxauhqui at
Templo Mayor• Aztecs arrive at Lake Texcoco, are enslaved by neighbors• Aztecs defeat masters, found Tenochtitlan (1345) where eagle perches in cactusSlide12
Sacrificial Themes
compensation/justice
shed blood of
Cipactli
debt-payment
blood sacrificed by gods for humans
nourishment
blood feeds earth, Sun, Moon
order
blood sacrifice prevents destruction by
tzitzimime
(star demons)
regenerationblood feeds dead,
irrigates earth, ensures growth
social
functions of sacrifice • group identity and cohesion • ritualized entertainment: sacrifice as theatre • participation in maintenance of universe
• state terrorismSlide13
Festival of Flayed Men
• 20-day festival celebrated before spring planting season
• festival in honor of
Xipe
Totec
• captives in
xochiyaoyotl
(flower war) dressed as ixiptla (god-impersonators)
• ixiptla treated like gods,
subjected to mock
battles, sacrificed to Xipe
Totec
, heart put in cuauhxicalli (bowl), skull put in
tzompantli (skull-rack)• skin of ixiptla flayed and worn by Eagle Warriors, flesh cooked and eaten• skins shed on last day of festival, buried in fields to promote fertilitySlide14
Eagle Warrior
Cihuatateo
•
participates in
xochiyaoyotl
•
souls of women dead in childbirth
• mock combat with ixiptla • causes mental illness,
theft of children
• distributes meat of victims • drags sun down from sky each
night • wears flayed pelt of
victims
•
after death, lifts sun into skySlide15
Xipe
Totec
(Our Lord the Flayed One)
outer/inner
dry/ green, wet
husk/maize
seed/flower
skin/hearthuman/goddead/livingdeath/regeneration
• gold-working
• jewelry
• writing• poetry
• fertility
• rebirth
• regenerationSlide16
Summary of Popol
Vuh
1
Cosmogony;
creation of animals and first two (mud, wood) humans
2
Hero Twins
Hunahpu
(Hunter) and Xbalanque
(Jaguar Deer) defeat Vucub
Caquix, the False Sun.
3
Descent into
Xibalba
of Hun Hunahpu (1 Hunter) and Vucub Hunahpu
(7 Hunter), father and uncle of Hero Twins; their defeat. Birth of Hero Twins. Childhood of Twins. Descent of Twins into Xibalba; their victory.4Creation of maize people.Slide17
First Generation
Hun
Hunahpu
(1 Hunter) &
Vucub
Hunahpu
(7 Hunter)•Hun Hunahpu and Vucub
Hunahpu descend into Xibalba to play ball.•Hun and
Vucub fail in Xibalba: cannot keep cigars lit
•Head of Hun Hunahpu
put in calabash tree.
•Head impregnates Xquic (Little Blood).•Xquic ascends to Upperworld with twins in her womb.Slide18
Second Generation
Hunahpu
(Hunter) &
Xbalanque
(Jaguar Deer)
•
Twins
descend into Xibalba
to play ball.
•On the way, Twins defeat Vucub Caquix , the False Sun.•Twins succeed in Xibalba: use
fireflies to keep cigars lit•Twins overcome trials in House
of Knives, Cold House, Jaguar House, Fire House•
Hunahpu decapitated in Bat House; head replaced by gourd.•Xibalbans
use head of
Hunahpu
in ball game.•Twins substitute gourd for head, and win game.•Twins sacrifice themselves in fire.•Twins reappear as entertainers, perform resurrection shows in Xibalba.•Twins trick Lords of Xibalba into participating; they are sacrificed.
•Twins rescue Hun Hunahpu, who becomes God of Maize.•Twins rise from Xibalba to become Sun and Moon. Slide19
Substitutions in
Popol
Vuh
head
of
Hunahpu
skull gourd ball head SunSlide20
Ball Game
• ball game mimics passage of Sun through
underworld
• ball game ensures that Sun survives passage
through underworld
• identification of Sun with human being :
ball game helps turn linear trajectory of human
life into cyclical pattern, as in astronomy and
agricultureSlide21
CUMULATIVE MATERIALSlide22
Characteristics of Myth
Narrative
Oral
Traditional
Anonymous
Multiform
Homeostatic
Authoritative
“True”Slide23
• anthropogony
: myth of human creation
• autochthony
: claim that ancestors emerge from earth
•
axis
mundi
: world axis; spatial, temporal, ritual
c
enter of world• emergence myth : claim that ancestors emerge from trees, caves, mountains etc.
• etiological myth : myth that accounts for natural feature or cultural practice
• regeneration myth : myth that represents life as circular (not linear) processSlide24
Myth, Legend, Folktale
sacred
myth
legend
folktale
OPENING
In
the beginning...
Sing, Muse...
Once upon a time...
ENDING
confirmation of way things are
deathwedding
OCCASION
sacred
high secularlow secularBELIEF VALUE
factfact/fictionfictionTIMEremotehistoricalanytimePLACEprimeval worldbattlefield
anyplaceCHARACTERSdivine (god)superior in kinddivine human (hero)superior in degreehuman/animalsame or inferior in degreeSlide25
Myth, Legend, Folktale
SACRED MYTH
LEGEND
FOLKTALE
WORLD
inflexible
somewhat flexible, generally hostile
highly flexible
CAUSALITY
hard determinism
rigid laws, fateful determinism, some room for human choice
chance and luck; in the extreme, fairytale wish-fulfillment
STANCE
absolute resignation
acquiescence and endurance
optimism and opportunism
MORALITYirrelevant: good = divine willirrelevant: moral character NOT = quality of experiencerelevant: moral character = quality of experienceSlide26
Cosmogonic Types
TYPE
NATURE
DEITY
MYTH
created world
inert matter
transcendent
Genesis
evolved world
dynamic matter
immanent
Enuma ElishSlide27
Cosmogonic Pattern
1. Primal Unity
2. Separation
3. Proliferation of Beings
4. Destabilization
5. Plot (Regret)
6. Confrontation
7. Resolution
8. StabilitySlide28
Combat Myth
VICTOR
ENEMY
male
female
youngest offspring
oldest parent
anthropomorph
theriomorph
alliance of gods
alliance of monsters
templeabyss
form/structure/organizationraw matter
civilization
natureSlide29
Hero Pattern
BIRTH
Mixed Status
divine + human parents
CHILDHOOD
Signs of Election
Separation
Education
superior abilities
as child/teenremoval from home due to threatmysterious teacher
DEPARTURE
CallSidekickJourney
ExploitsEncountersdesire for glory
/ urgent mission
double
unexplored terrainmonsters (cosmogonic)young woman/old woman/old manRETURN / DEATH
FailureReconciliationDeathdeath of sidekickbond with othersheroic funeralMEMORIALIZATIONMyth & Ritualcenter of communitySlide30
Regeneration Pattern
1. Descent
2. Failure/Limitation
3. Ascent
Repeat 1-3