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READINGAztec Creation Myth
This story is about the gods that the Aztecs believe in. In the
beginning of time, the earth
crumbledinto ashesand all the living people were devouredby the
jaguars. And after all thepeople were devoured, and gone forever,
the horrible destruction ended with ferocious
earthquakes, as the earth was dying, the sun was dying with
it!
One thousand years later, the god uetzacoatl, the god of the
eathered "erpent, aoke to
find his beautiful earthturned into ashes. "o he created a new
raceof people from the grey
of the ashes. These people would live on the fourth world in the
age of the #water sun#. These
people that uetzacoatl created were very !reedy, greedier than
he wanted them to be. "o, as
a "unishmentall the people that lived on the fourth sun, were
turned into fish, in a terribleflood!!
$very one was turned into fish, e%cept for two people, these two
people were s"aredby the
gods. These two people were called Teta and &ena, they were
husband and wife. These two
were spared because before the floods the gods visited them with
their voices when they were
wor'ing in the fields. The gods told them that there would a
flood, and that all the creatures
would drown, and the people would turn to fish! Teta and
&ena were very scared, and theyas'ed what they could do to
live.
#ind a tall hollo, and hide in it, if you do that you shall
live! (ut if you should tell anyoneelse, you shall not be spared,
and when the waters are gone, you may come out, and wal' on
the earth once again. )hile you are hidin!, you must only ta'e
one corn cob, do not be
greedy, as your fellopeople are!#
And with that the voices were gone! Teta and &ena did as the
voice told them. They too' one
corn cob, and found a hollow tree to hide in. One hour later,
they loo'ed up into the s'y, and
all they saw was dar' grey clouds, loo'ing as if they were about
to burst. The !roundswere
already flooded, and in the water they could see what used to be
their villa!e!!!
&ow since the fourth world was gone, the gods had to ma'e a
fifth world. The *ods werevery careful in ma'ing the fifth world.
They did everything they could do to finish it, they had
animals in the fields, they put Teta and &ena in the
village, and they made more people with
the bones of the drowned animal bones. All the gods needed to do
was to ma'e a sun. They
had to have a sun, as with no sun the seeds cannot grow into
plants. "o they got together to
discuss the ma'ing of a sun.
+a'ing a sun ta'es a lot of time and effort. (ut it wasn#t only
the gods# job to ma'e the sun,
the gods had to have offerings from the people who they were
ma'ing the sun for. They
usually gave the gods dead branches, cactus needles, and hay.
They gave them these gifts
because the gods would ma'e the suns with these materials! Then
one day later, the people of
the fifth sun saw a fire ball shoot across the s'y. #ooray,# the
people cried, -the gods have
made us a sun so we can grow our seeds, and ma'e them grow into
plants, and we have light
to wor' in the fields with!- And with that, you have the five
worlds, and their five suns.
to crumble # to brea'
down, venirse para abajo
ashes # cremated remainscenizas
to devour # to consume, t
eat, consumir
ferocious # mean, fierce,
feroz
earthquake # seismicactivity,sismo
to aake # to wa'e up,
despertarse
earth #planet inhabited b
humans, tierra
!reedy # wanting
everything, avaro
"unishment # treatment
for an offense, castigo
flood # e%cess of water,inundacin
to s"are # to leave out, to
save,salvar
fields #place where crops
are grown, campo
hollo # empty space,hueco
to hide # to try not to be
seen, esconderse
corn cob # edible part of corn stal', elote de maiz
fello # euals, mismo
to burst # to e%plode,explotar
!rounds # earth, tierra
villa!e # small town, alde
seeds # material to grow
plants with ,semillas
8/12/2019 Aztec Myth Bien
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C$M%RE&EN'I$N
(ork it out) ) )
/. )hy do you believe the Aztecs had so many deities or
gods0
1. In ancient mythology, the weather always plays a large role
in creation and guiding the decision2ma'ing. )hy do you thin' that
is0
3. As well as weather, the stars, or celestial formations also
play a large role in creation and decision2ma'ing. )hy do you thin'
that is0
4. The stars also play a large role in geography and navegation.
ow accurate do you thin' these systems
were0
5. )hy is mythological history more significan in Aztec legends
than factual history0
6. ow were records 'ept in those days0
7. ow much are stories distorted when they are passed on through
oral history0
8. 9o you 'now of other tales of Aztec history0
:. Are they similar to the one you read in this chapter0
/;. 9o you believe that Aztec myths were interpreted in the same
way in the days when these stories
began0//. 9o you feel a sense of understanding of the Aztec
culture when you hear such stories0
/1. )hy does Aztec history seem so barbaric in modern day0
/3. )hy is there more popular mythology available about the
Aztecs than there is about the +ayans or
Olmecs0
/4. ow is the social or political hierarchy of the Aztecs
similar to systems we have in modern day0
/5. )hy do you thin' the Aztecs believed in more than one sun,
or more than one moon0
9escribe another Aztec myth or legend you have heard. . .
