Aztec Mythology and the Origins of Humanity | Fate & Fabled

For audio descriptions, go to Settings - Audio Track - English Descriptive.

If the word “Nahua” sounds unfamiliar to you, it’s probably because you’re more used to hearing them referred to as the Aztec. The history is complicated, but the name Aztec was popularized by a German explorer in the 1800s to describe the powerful Mesoamerican empire. Nahua culture is richly complex, with stories that reflect and explain the sometimes confusing duality of nature. Beyond mythology, the Nahua had an interesting political structure, impressive agricultural system, and TWO CALENDARS! Yet most people these days don’t even know them by their real name.

Hosted by Dr. Moiya McTier & Dr. Emily Zarka, FATE & FABLED explores the stories and characters of mythologies from all around the world - why they came to be and how they impact us still today.

Host / Writer: Moiya McTier, PhD
Director: David Schulte
Executive Producer: Amanda Fox
Producer: Thomas Fernandes
Editor / Animator: P.W. Shelton
Assistant Editor: Jordyn Buckland
Illustrator: Sophie Calhoun
Script Editors: Emily Zarka, PhD & Moiya McTier, PhD
Script Consultant: David Tavárez
Fact Checker: Yvonne McGreevy
Additional Footage: Shutterstock
Music: APM Music
Executive in Charge (PBS): Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming (PBS): Gabrielle Ewing
Assistant Director of Programming (PBS): John Campbell

Fate & Fabled is produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios.

Descriptive Audio & Captions provided by The Described and Captioned Media Program

[kid]

Another fun myth I have heard is that Xolotl at one time had to hide in the lake around Mexico City today and transformed himself into the first Axolotl. That lake is the only lake in the world where Axolotls live naturally.

[erendiranigarcia]

As someone who studies Mesoamerican history and culture, I will say that I have a lot of problems with how human sacrifice is discussed. Most obviously, it was not as common as is typically said. Both the Mexica and the Spanish had reason to exaggerate the numbers, and the reality is, we just can't find evidence for mass-sacrifice on the scale that is said to have occurred. In fact, it seems that sacrifice had fell out of favor by the early to mid postclassic, with it being reintroduced and repopularized by the Mexica in Tenochtitlan, as well as the Uanacaze in Patzcuaro. That's not to say that it didn't occur during the early postclassic; it definitely did, but not as much as at its height in the late 1400s, and even at that time it was definitely exaggerated. Auto-sacrifice through the piercing of the tongue or ears was much more common.

[reyjay]

Something to keep in mind about the sacrifices. Most mexican scholars agree that these numbers were greatly exaggerated by the Spaniards in order to justify conquest and colonization. Not to say it didn't happen. But the number that most post has been mostly agreed that it wasn't more than double digits within a year.

[CidTheGargoyle]

More on Xolotl:
He was the twin brother of Quetzalcoatl and a god of fire, lightning, death, disease, deformities, misfortune, monsters, and dogs. He accompanied Quetzalcoatl on his trip on the underworld to retrieve the bones of past humans. He took a sliver of bone and used to create dogs (the Xoloitzcuintle breed specifically) as a gift to mankind. The Xoloitzcuintle were considered sacred to the aztecs, being guides and guardians of the dead like their creator. If you were kind to dogs and treated them well in life they would happy to help you on your journey through Mictlan (because they are good boys and girls), but if you were cruel and mistreated them in life they would want nothing to do with you and you were on your own which means you were almost certainly doomed. He was also a guide and guardian to the sun and protect it on it's journey through the underworld each night.

[JorgeRamirez-qjrl]

Tecciztecatl was offered the position of the new sun because the other 4 gods considered him the most beautiful and prideful, making him the best choice for a sun. However, when he saw that he had to throw himself to the fire he cowered and began to be doubtful. Seeing this Nanahuatzin, who was a sick and weak God throw himself to the fire without a doubt. Then Tecciztecatl feeling humiliated by Nanahuatzin sacrifice and his own doubts throw himself also to the fire.
After a moments the sun rises and it was the sun from Nanahuatzin sacrifice and because of bravery of Nanahuatzin the sun he made was as bright as can be. But, a few moments later another sun rises, this was Tecciztecatl. The gods were not happy that a coward would become a sun and so they started to think how to get rid of the other sun. Quetzalcóatl then grab a rabbit that was walking nearby and throw it to Tecciztecatl putting his light out and thus he became the moon.

[cristopherj]

No way! I'm from Autlan, Jalisco Mexico, and growing up we were exposed to a lot of Nahua, being that there are still some nahuas living in the areas, and I never really thought to deep about it as a kid, now I feel so proud of my heritage. Thanks for the amazing video and the great representation that you're bringing 💜💜

[jessicaclakley]

Loving this episode! I’ve only ever heard this culture described as “Aztec” so I’m always excited to learn more accurate information about peoples past

[fernandovillelaaranda]

Great video. Congratulations.
As a Mexican philosophy professor I can give you 3 grades.
It is true that the conquest of Tenochtitlan was cruel and brutal, but the Spanish were accompanied by thousands of indigenous enemies of the Mexica. The Mexicas were a great civilization but they were a very cruel empire with their conquered. For a non-Eurocentric view of the conquest I recommend the book by the Mexican historian: Pedro Salmeron "
The battle for Tenochtitlan" (I don't know if you can find it in English).
According to much of what we know about the pre-Hispanic period, the rescue of the codices was thanks to Catholic priests who tried to approach and understand the indigenous language and culture. Thanks to them we have the first Nahuatl grammar and the codices (if you look at the codices that show there are Latin letters in Spanish).
Third, the independence of Mexico was achieved by criollos (children of Spaniards born in America), who took indigenous symbols to distance themselves from Spain and her parents, even when they were not.
Greetings and thanks for putting a piece of Mexico in the cultural world of the world.

[Caldor]

"The pustulous god" can be interpreted as "the blistered god", which is totally appropriate for a deity who became a sun god but didn't start as one

[imagixel]

I’m no expert and wouldn’t dare to correct two PhD’s but as a Mexican I’ve always been taught that Huitzilopochtli means “left handed hummingbird”, maybe my knowledge is outdated but wanted to mention it anyway. Great episode! Loved it.

[yuvalamrami]

It's always a pleasure when a new video drops :)
For those in the comments that are interested there's a crunchyroll original series that is based on Aztec mythology and themes. It's a bit gory and sadly got only one season but the story is engaging if you like those shows.
Edit: Sorry, never said the name,
show is called Onyx Equinox

[liaemilie]

Quick little anecdote to really show just how fun we were.
Pozole is one of MExico's most famous dishes, and one of the most popular and widespread foods to be enjoyed around Mexico, a wonderful soup of spice, corn

Pozole is a pre-colonial dish and it's one of the oldest dishes in Mexico since experts have found that it became part of the Mexicas' diet between 1325 and 1524. It also had a religious origin.

In pre-colonial times, pozole was known as tlacatlaolli, which means “men shelled corn” and it was a privilege to eat it, only for those who belonged to the Tenochtitlán elite, such as royals, governors, and warriors.
Its name derives from the Náhuatl word “pozolli, ” which means foam and refers to the foam produced when the corn is boiled. Pozole dates back to pre-colonial times. It was served during a celebration for the god Xipe Tótec, a god who was flayed and protected agriculture, fertility, and love. Nevertheless, the pozole served during the festivities had one especial ingredient: human flesh.

In the General History of the New Spain Issues, Brother Bernardino de Sahagún explains that the Mexicas used to cook pozole using the leg of a captured warrior or slaves from other tribes, which was savored by the Tlatoani, the ruler. Nevertheless, the Mexicas also ate versions that contained Xoloitzcuintle meat or turkey. After the conquest, and the banning of human flesh for personal consumption, the Mexica largely replaced it with pork.

[theworldsmostplagiarizedma]

So cool. The amount of thematic overlap between the various mythologies across all of human culture will always be endlessly fascinating to me.

[tecpaocelotl]

A more details and correction:

Overall, the stories mentioned him are scattered through many codices. So if you're going to primary sources, you will have to go to multiple codices.

Nahuatl is pronounced Na-Watl

Fernando Tezozomoc is probably the oldest writing to use the word Aztec.

Mexica is pronounced Me-Shee-Ka.

Huitzilopochtli is pronounced Wit-zil-o-poch-tli

Ometeotl is Miguel Portilla's invention.

Tonatiuh pronounced To-na-tiuh (h making an aspiration h sound).

[daharos]

Hey there, so I'm glad you decided to this video, this is the story of possibly some of my Mexican ancestors... I am a first generation Mexican-American... but a few things... Nahua were present before the Mexica/Aztec arrived in the the Valley of Mexico. There were already Nahuatl speaking peoples there, and in other regions. The Aztecs/Mexica themselves probably branched off from a larger group of Chichimeca (a nomadic, semi-nomadic groups of Nahua peoples). There were already Nahuas in the area, indeed belonging to part of the Uto-Aztecan language family (including Comanche, Hopi, Nahuatl, Paiute, Pima, and Shoshone.)

[bryangonzalez]

Loved this episode and really appreciate how many of the myths of the native people's of the Americas are being presented to a wider audience and being reevaluated by academics. One aspect of the origin stories for many indigenous American groups is that when they describe their people's journeys to new lands they often reflect real landscapes that match with modern maps and match many current theories for the populating of the Americas. I had one professor present the theory during a lecture that the cold dark land many groups describe as the land they initially emerged from could reflect the Arctic and matched the crossing of the land bridge from Asia.

[NGutiRiera]

This was super interesting!! You should do the Inca/Tawantinsuyu next!!

[עומרשרייבר-לר]

I like aztac myths. One of the most metal mythologies that ever existed.

[DoctorandtheDoll]

I get so excited when these videos show up in my subscription feed. It's like having a little documentary break in my day.

[NewMessage]

"Human sacrifice? C'mon, guys.. have a heart!"

"Hey... that's not a bad idea!"

" ... "