Customer Reviews

The Myth of Quetzalcoatl

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I found just fascinating the tracing of the roots of a classical myth into so many different cultures and traditions along the Mesoamerican cultures: from Teotihuacan and Tula to the historic Aztec period and from one part of Central America to another, to explain how a story becomes a myth. There is of course a similarity on the information because the sources have so many coincidental origins. Quetzalcoatl. It is such a familiar name, the Feathered Serpent of Ancient Mexico. But who is this man, myth, god who was supposed to return from the East to reclaim his power, and was mistook for Cortés. A deep study of the origins of a myth that surrounded a God of such importance and power that nearly no aspect of everyday life seemed to go untouched by him. An historical figure, and a legend, that would signal the end of mortal kingship. A great essay that traces every possible source through comparative literature to find that Quetzalcoatl is related to many names and incarnations, throughout the Mesoamerican pantheons.

I found the text occasionally tedious and a little repetative. The progress of the tradition of Quetzalcoatl from its ancient roots at Teotihuacan and Tula to the historic Aztec period and from one part of Central America to another was very interesting, but the information was often presented in a repetative way. It was almost as though the work had started originally as a series of journal articles or research papers presented at conferences on Mesoamerican mythology all woven together to produce a book length product. The chapter on comparative literature and the evolution of creation myths in different cultures world wide was certainly interesting, but not necessarily original or even germaine to the title subject.

There is alot of information here regarding the figure of Quetzacoatl. But I noticed about a quarter of the way through this book that is was boring. The authors writing style is not up to the task to communicate adequately the mythos around such an important personage.