The Legend of Quetzalcoatl
Image of Quetzalcoatl at Teotihuacan
Quetzalcoatl was one of the most important gods, a creator god, to whom is also attributed the gift of maize to humanity and the teaching of many arts and sciences, among them the measurement of time. Being also the god of wind, he acts as sweeper for the rain gods, upon whom life depends. In that role, in which he is called Ehecatl (wind), he descended to Mictlan, the underworld, to take the bones of humanity from his father, Mictlantecuhtli, god of death. However, as he fled, he dropped the bones and a quail began to gnaw at them. When Quetzalcoatl sprinkled them with his own blood to create human beings, the new lineage of men that arose was of different sizes and destined to die once again.
The great rival of Quetzalcoatl was his brother Tezcatlipoca, god of war, who manages to rid himself of Quetzalcoatl by tricking him into drinking a pulque that would make him drunk, while he lay with his sister Quetzalcoatl. Ashamed, Quetzalcoatl departed toward the east on a raft of serpents, promising to return. When Hernán Cortés landed in 1519 from the east... the Aztecs believed that Quetzalcoatl had returned.