Aztecs: An InterpretationIn 1521, the city of Tenochtitlan, magnificent centre of the Aztec empire, fell to the Spaniards and their Indian allies. Inga Clendinnen's account of the Aztecs recreates the culture of that city in its last unthreatened years. It provides a vividly dramatic analysis of Aztec ceremony as performance art, binding the key experiences and concerns of social existence in the late imperial city to the mannered violence of their ritual killings. |
Contents
The Public Image | 19 |
Local Perspectives | 63 |
Victims | 121 |
Warriors Priests and Merchants | 156 |
The Masculine Self Discovered | 200 |
Wives | 216 |
Mothers | 246 |
The Female Being Revealed | 292 |
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Common terms and phrases
action Arthur J. O. Anderson Aztec battle Bernardino de SahagŽun blood body calpulli Cantares Mexicanos captives ceremonial chapter Chicomecoatl Cihuacoatl city’s conquest CortŽes Coyolxauhqui cultural dance death deity Diego DurŽan display Dıaz eagle earth empire feast feathers female festival fire flayed flesh Florentine Codex flowers formal girls given goddess gods heart Historia honour household Huitzilopochtli human Ibid images Indian individual Inga Clendinnen ixiptlas Izcalli jaguar LŽopez Austin living lords maguey maize male marked merchants metaphor Mexica Mexica warriors Miguel LeŽon-Portilla Moctezoma mother Nahua Nahuatl noble Nonetheless notion Nueva Espa˜na Ochpaniztli offered ofthe one’s painted Panquetzaliztli particular performance perhaps priestly priests pulque pyramid quetzal Quetzalcoatl regalia rior ritual ruler sacred power sexual skin slaves social song Spaniards Spanish Tenochtitlan Tezcatlipoca thou tion Tlaloc Tlatelolco tlatoani Toci Toltec transformation tribute valley victims warrior house woman women Xipe Totec young