In Aztec mythology, Copil was the son of the goddess Malinalxochitl and Malinalco king, Chimalcuauhtli.[1]
When grown he sought revenge for his mother's abandonment by her brother, Huītzilōpōchtli. When the Mexica were encamped at Chapultepec, he confronted his uncle. Hostility brewed, and Copil was killed[1] on the hill Peñón de los Baños by Mexicas under orders of Huītzilōpōchtli,[2] while Copil was awaiting to watch the battle between the Mexicas and tribes he incited to fight them.[3] He was slain by priest Cuauhtlequetzqui, who later married Copil's daughter, Xicomoyahual.[4] He was decapitated and his head was placed atop the hill and then an outcrop in Lake Texcoco.[5] His heart was extracted and thrown into the swamp where it grew into nopal. It was here the Mexicas were given the signal to build Tenochtitlan.[3][5]
References
edit- ^ a b Roskamp (2010), p. 88
- ^ Aveni, Calnek & Hartung (1988), pp. 291–292
- ^ a b Bahr (2004), p. 742
- ^ Diel (2005), p. 96
- ^ a b Aveni, Calnek & Hartung (1988), pp. 292
Bibliography
edit- Aveni, A. F.; Calnek, E. E.; Hartung, H. (1988). "Myth, Environment, and the Orientation of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan". American Antiquity. 53 (2): 287–309. doi:10.2307/281020. ISSN 0002-7316.
- Bahr, Donald M. (2004). "Temptation and Glory in One Pima and Two Aztec Mythologies". Journal of the Southwest. 46 (4): 705–761. ISSN 0894-8410.
- Diel, Lori Boornazian (2005). "Women and Political Power: The Inclusion and Exclusion of Noblewomen in Aztec Pictorial Histories". RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics (47): 96. ISSN 0277-1322.
- Roskamp, Hans (2010). "LOS NAHUAS DE TZINTZUNTZAN-HUITZITZILAN, MICHOACÁN. HISTORIA, MITO Y LEGITIMACIÓN DE UN SEÑORÍO PREHISPÁNICO". Journal de la Société des américanistes. 96 (1): 75–106. ISSN 0037-9174.
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