---
title: The Legend of Quetzalcoatl
description: The Legend of Quetzalcoatl
author:
  name: Graciela Paula Caldeiro
  url: http://graciela-caldeiro.idoneos.com
canonical: https://mitologiaamericana.idoneos.com/en/297980/
source: en/297980/index.md
---

<h2 id="la-leyenda-de-quetzacoatl">The Legend of Quetzalcoatl</h2>

<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" data-legacy-role="lead-image" alt="The Legend of Quetzalcoatl" class="itemImage" src="/img.foros/297980.gif">_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&#46;&#46;&#46; the Aztecs believed that **Quetzalcoatl** had returned.