Aztec Indians 2

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necessary to look at the role myths played in developing and maintaining the Aztec way of life. Myths are a mixture of historical fact and fiction which can be used to explain the structure of social and political organization, and the significance of warfare and human sacrifice among the Aztecs. Myths will provide a gateway into the complexities of the Aztec way of life.
Smith raises an important point in that the Aztecs had a number of different, even contradictory, myths describing the creation of the world, the gods, and it's people (205). There are indeed numerous myths that can be interpreted as being the reason why the Aztecs lived the life that they did. The fact of the matter is that no one myth or combination of beliefs can truly explain the complexities of a society that existed centuries ago. The way of life of the Aztecs was culturally constructed and anyone outside of that culture can only unravel interpretations. This paper will center interpretations around ...

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seeds. They were turned into fish in a great flood. (Smith 205)
This cycle of creation and destruction brings us to the present reigning fifth sun. It's governing deity is Tonatiuh and its people are maize-eaters. According to Aztec myth, this world too will be destroyed, by earthquakes, and its people will be devoured by sky monsters. The destruction of a world age or sun can only come at the end of a 52- year cycle known as the calendar round, but the number of cycles that will pass before the apocalypse is unknown.

This belief that the Aztec leader, the sun, would be defeated must have placed a feeling of fear and pessimism deep in the souls of the Aztec people. "This ...

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