Aztec Gods and What They Represent Quiz

Answer: Thunder, lightning, rain

Tláloc is the god of rain, as well as thunder, lightning and hail, and earthly fertility. He was created by the four Tezcatlipocas to control the waters of the Earth. His symbols are snakes, butterflies, jaguars (jaguars were sacrificed to him) and the Mexican marigold, and he is often depicted with fangs and carrying vessels of water. He controlled different types of rain to water fields; jade rain meant a bountiful harvest while other types of rain, such as fire rain or fungus rain, were destructive. One of the shrines on the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan was dedicated to him.

Tláloc's domain, the fourth layer of the heavens, was known as Tlálocan and was a greenery-filled paradise where it was always spring. Those who died of water-related causes, such as drowning or waterborne disease, would go to Tlálocan; their bodies were buried, not cremated, and they had seeds planted in their faces and blue paint on their foreheads. They were also buried with a digging stick for planting in the afterlife. Tláloc represented the third cycle of creation, the Water Sun, but Tezcatlipoca tricked him by kidnapping his wife Xochiquetzal, goddess of love and beauty. The devastated Tláloc refused to do his duties out of grief and the world was hit by drought; the people prayed for rain, and eventually Tláloc grew angry and destroyed the world by unleashing a great fire upon it. The gods then created a new earth.

Answer: The Sun, fire, war, the South

Huitzilopochtli, the Left-Handed Hummingbird, is one of the four Tezcatlipocas, the four Aztec creator gods representing the cardinal directions. He is the Blue Tezcatlipoca, Ruler of the South, the Lord of the Sun and the god of fire and war. Xiuhcoatl, a fiery serpent, acted as Huitzilopochtli's weapon. The youngest of the four brothers, he and his brother Quetzalcoatl created the Earth, the Sun, fire and the first humans. In some myths, he was born fully grown from Coatlicue and clad in armour, and attacked her other children when they tried to kill her. Huitzilopochtli decapitated his sister Coyolxauqui and threw her head into the sky, where it became the Moon. His brothers became the stars and he spent his days chasing them through the sky.

Huitzilopochtli was also the patron god of the Mexica tribe, and required sacrifices in order to sustain the 52-year cycle of the Sun. People sacrificed to Huitzilopochtli were known as quauhteca ('the eagle's people'). The other shrine at the Great Temple is dedicated to him, as a counter to Tláloc (the fire to Tláloc's water).

Answer: Water, lakes, rivers, seas and childbirth

Chalchiuhtlicue, or She of the Jade Skirt, is the wife of Tláloc (sister in some texts) and a water goddess associated with seas, rivers and lakes; while Tláloc represents water that comes from the sky, Chalchiuhtlicue represents groundwater and bodies of water. She is also associated with snakes, childbirth and fertility, and is a protector of women and children. She rules Tlálocan with Tláloc. She is both a giver and taker of life; she drowns people with water, but also uses water for purification and birth rituals. Her priests would honour her and Tláloc by diving into rivers and croaking like frogs. Healers also prayed to her when children were ill.

Chalchiuhtlicue presided over the era of the Fourth Sun. Tezcatlipoca accused her of not caring about the people and only pretending to be nice to gain their affection, and Chalchiuhtlicue was so upset that she cried tears of blood. She subsequently flooded the world, just as Tláloc had done before, for 52 years, and built a bridge between Earth and the heavens; those she favoured were allowed to cross it, while other humans were turned into fish. The era of the Fifth Sun then began.

Answer: Death, twins, misfortune, the Evening Star

Xolotl is the dog-headed god of death, twilight, lightning and fire, twins, misfortune and monsters; he is Quetzalcoatl's twin brother and represents the Evening Star aspect of Venus, while Quetzalcoatl represents the Morning Star. The xoloitzcuintle, otherwise known as the Mexican hairless dog, is named after him; he is said to have created it and in the days of the Aztecs, xolos would be sacrificed and buried with their owners to guide them in the afterlife and cross the river to Mictlan, the underworld. The axolotl is also named after him.

One of Xolotl's tasks was to accompany Quetzalcoatl to Mictlan and gather bones to create new living beings. He also had to protect the Sun from the underworld. He is sometimes depicted with empty eye sockets, as he refused to sacrifice himself for the new Fifth Sun and cried so much his eyes fell out. In some myths, he is a Prometheus-like figure who gave fire to humans and is depicted carrying a torch.

Answer: Agriculture, nourishment, food (especially maize) and drink

Chicomecoatl is one of the lesser-known Aztec deities, the goddess of agriculture, nourishment, plenty, food and drink, especially maize. Her male counterpart is Centeotl, the god of maize, and they both share the symbol of an ear of corn. Like the water gods, Chicomecoatl is a giver and taker of life; while she provides food, she is also responsible for bad harvests.

Chicomecoatl bears some similarities to Chalchiuhtlicue, wearing a similar headdress and with similar facial markings. She has three different forms: a young girl carrying flowers, a woman whose embraces mean death, and a mother using the Sun as her shield. During harvest festivals, her priestesses would choose seed corn to be planted, and children were sacrificed to her. Dried maize that had been harvested was associated with her, while maize consumed after the harvest was associated with Centeotl.

Answer: Obsidian, darkness, hurricanes, the North

Tezcatlipoca, the Smoking Mirror, is one of the four Tezcatlipocas and the god of darkness, obsidian, hurricanes and the night sky, and the Ruler of the North. Specifically, he is the Black Tezcatlipoca. He is also associated with the constellation Ursa Major. He has an ongoing rivalry with his brother Quetzalcoatl. He sometimes takes the form of a jaguar, a sacred animal in Aztec myth. He is sometimes depicted with a missing foot because when he and Quetzalcoatl were creating the world, they captured the giant crocodile Cipactli to make the land and she bit his foot off.

Tezcatlipoca turned himself into the First Sun, but only managed to become half a sun due to being a dark god, and an angry Quetzalcoatl knocked him out of the sky. In revenge, Tezcatlipoca sent his jaguars to eat all the humans. When Quetzalcoatl became the Second Sun, Tezcatlipoca turned humans into monkeys; Quetzalcoatl responded by summoning a hurricane to blow them away. Tezcatlipoca continued to be a thorn in the side of the other gods who became suns (Huitzilopochtli, then Chalchiutlicue). His festival day was Toxcatl, where a young man would be chosen to play the role of Tezcatlipoca and be treated like a god for a year, before being sacrificed and eaten.

Answer: The hearth

Xantico, or Chantico, is the goddess of the hearth and home fires, as well as stonecutters and warriorship. She is associated with the town of Xochimilco, bell peppers and butterflies. She is sometimes depicted wearing a headdress made of cactus spikes and warriors' feathers, and has yellow skin. The emperor Moctezuma was said to have an effigy of her which had a removable leg; he would pound the leg into the earth in the hope of stopping the conquistadors' advances.

Xantico broke a fast by eating roast fish with paprika, and the creator god Tonacatecuhtli punished her by turning her into a dog. She was subsequently nicknamed 'Nine Dogs' and people born on the ninth day of the eighteenth trecena (a type of 13-day month), her special day, would be cursed as Xantico's day was associated with shapeshifters. The coffee chain Starbucks sold a limited edition hot chocolate, made from steamed cocoa butter, named after her.

Answer: Crafts, ritual flaying, architecture, seasons, the East

Xipe Totec, or the Flayed One, is the god of architecture, the seasons, crafts such as goldsmithing, and ritual flaying, as well as agriculture, skin diseases, and battle. He is the Ruler of the East and one of the four Tezcatlipocas, known as Red Tezcatlipoca. He provides humans with food by flaying himself alive, similar to a seed losing its shell, and is depicted with red skin because of this. His casting off of his skin also represents the change in seasons; worshippers would wear the skins of slain captives to represent the vegetation that covers the Earth when it rains.

Xipe Totec's festival was Tlacaxipehualiztli, celebrated at the Spring Equinox and captive slaves would be selected to represent the god. Priests of Xipe Totec would dress in the skins of recently flayed prisoners, which were dyed yellow, and go to people's houses, where they would be given pulque (agave wine) to drink and wear necklaces made of flowers and corn. Sacrifices would be forced to fight to the death in gladiator-like matches, or tied to a frame and shot with arrows. Goldsmiths also honoured Xipe Totec with their own festival, Yopico, where they made offerings of maize and fruit to him. People who stole gold or silver would be paraded through the streets, before being sacrificed to appease the god.

Answer: Light, life, wisdom, the winds, the West

Quetzalcoatl, aka the Feathered Serpent, is arguably one of the most famous Mexican gods and is the god of light, life, wisdom, the day and learning, as well as merchants and arts and crafts. He is the Ruler of the West, the patron god of Aztec priests and one of the four Tezcatlipocas, the White Tezcatlipoca. He is also associated with spirals, spider monkeys, ducks, rattlesnakes, macaws, crows and resplendent quetzals (a brightly coloured little green bird), and is the Morning Star to Xolotl's Evening Star. He is said to have invented books, and to have given maize and cacao to humans. Quetzalcoatlus, a pterosaur discovered in Texas, was named after him.

Quetzalcoatl's origins vary depending on the myth. Some myths say Coatlicue gave birth to him, while others say that Chimalman, a virgin, gave birth to him after eating an emerald, or after being shot in the womb with an arrow. He was the Second Sun, but stepped down after a row with his brother and rival Tezcatlipoca. In the era of the Fifth Sun, Quetzalcoatl created humans from bones of the dead in Mictlan, which he stole from Mictlantecuhtli - the king of the underworld - and brought them to life with his blood.

Answer: Death, war, the Tzitzimimeh (skeletal female warriors)

Itzpapalotl, the Obsidian Butterfly, is the goddess of death and war, and the ruler of Tamohuanchan, the afterlife where dead babies went. Tamohuanchan was also the place where Quetzalcoatl created humans from bones he had stolen from Mictlan. She is also associated with birds, moths (particularly the Orizaba silkmoth) and fire, and may have been associated with bats as well. Her son, Mixcoatl, is the god of the hunt and the Milky Way; she is the patron goddess of women who died in childbirth and became spirits known as Cihuateteo who would guide the Sun towards the west.

Itzpapalotl was the leader of the Tzitzimimeh, a group of female warrior goddesses associated with fertility and the stars. Solar eclipses were said to be caused by the Tzitzimeh attacking the Sun, and descending to Earth to possess men and eat people. They were depicted as skeletal figures with dresses made of bones. Likewise, Itzpapalotl was sometimes depicted as a skeletal woman with stone butterfly wings; other myths depicted her as a doe with two heads.