"Man is alone everywhere. But the solitude of the Mexican, under the great stone night of the high plateau that is still inhabited by insatiable gods,

Presentación del tema: ""Man is alone everywhere. But the solitude of the Mexican, under the great stone night of the high plateau that is still inhabited by insatiable gods,"— Transcripción de la presentación:

1 "Man is alone everywhere. But the solitude of the Mexican, under the great stone night of the high plateau that is still inhabited by insatiable gods, is very different from that of the North American, who wanders in an abstract world of machines, fellow citizens and moral precepts. In the Valley of Mexico man feels himself suspended between heaven and earth, and he oscillates between contrary powers and forces, and petrified eyes and devouring mouths. Reality -- that is, the world that surrounds us -- exists by itself here, has a life of its own, and was not invented by man as it was in the United States."

2 Octavio Paz, joven

3 Octavio Paz, viejo

4 The Return of Quetzalcoátl and the Fall of Man Click on icon for the Myth of Quetzalcoátl

5 Click on icon for text of lecture

6 Bandera de Mexico con águila y serpiente

7 Detalle de águila y serpiente

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11 Templo Mayor El Museo Nacional de Antropología cuenta con esta reconstrucción del Templo Mayor, el recinto sagrado de la capital mexica, donde se puede apreciar la magnitud del conjunto ceremonial. Back to previous page

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14 Serpientes: Templo Mayor, México, D.F.

15 Templo Mayor: Tenochtitlán (Mexico City)

16 Click on head for Aztec Cosmogony

17 Click on Aztec Sunstone for Aztec Links

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19 Coatlicue: The Lady of the Skirt of Snakes

20 The Náhuatl Language of the Aztecs The Aztecs spoke a language called Náhuatl (pronounced NAH waht l). It belongs to a large group of Indian languages which also include the languages spoken by the Comanche, Pima, Shoshone and other tribes of western North America. The Aztec used pictographs to communicate through writing. Some of the pictures symbolized ideas and other represented the sounds of the syllables.

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22 Haced Click en la imagen

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24 Historia de La Conquista J.C. Orozco, Hospicio Cabañas

25 El Hombre de Hierro; J.C. Orozco, Hospicio Cabañas

26 Cortés y La Malinche J.C. Orozco, Hospicio Cabañas

27 Xochicalco, Centro Ceremonial, Morelos, México

28 Cancha de Pelota, Xochicalco

29 Xochicalco, Centro Ceremonial, Morelos, México

30 Tepozlán (Morelos, México)

31 Teotihuacán: Avenue of the Dead and Pyramid of the Moon

32 Teotihuacán: Pyramid of the Moon

33 Teotihuacán: Pyramid of the Sun

34 Teotihuacán: Temple of Quetzalcoátl

35 Cabeza de Quetzalcoátl, Templo Teotihuacán

36 Quetzal = Green Parrot (The Good in Man) Coátl = Serpent (The Evil in Man) Quetzalcoátl = Feathered Serpent

37 Quetzalcoátl

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39 José Clemente Orozco: The Prophecy Baker Library, Dartmouth College

40 José Clemente Orozco: The Departure of Quetzalcoátl Baker Library, Dartmouth College

41 José Clemente Orozco: Aztec Warriors Baker Library, Dartmouth College

42 Aztec Human Sacrifice

43 Skull rack altar (tzompantli) of Templo Mayor, Mexico City

44 Since the Toltecs' era, the chac-mool served as a vessel from man to the gods. It was believed to deliver the sacrificial heart to the gods in the heavens. While the Aztecs used such large bowls like the aforementioned eagle and jaguar bowls, they also employed the more traditional chac- mool for the same purpose. One of the oldest constructions of the Great Temple shows a very early chac-mool in the Aztec empire.

45 José Clemente Orozco: Ancient Human Sacrifice Baker Library, Dartmouth College

46 José Clemente Orozco: Modern Human Sacrifice Baker Library, Dartmouth College

47 José Clemente Orozco Hombre en Llamas (Man Aflame) Hospicio Cabañas

48 José Guadalupe Posada

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50 "History has the cruel reality of a nightmare, and the grandeur of man consists in his making beautiful and lasting works out of the real substance of that nightmare. Or, to put it another way,it consists in transforming the nightmare into vision; in freeing ourselves from the shapeless horror of reality--if only for a moment -- by means of creation."

51 Octavio Paz Epitafio para un poeta Quiso cantar, cantar para olvidar su vida verdadera de mentiras y recordar su mentirosa vida de verdades.

52 Bajo tu clara sombra … Donde vibra el instante, La frenética música; La cima de los besos La plenitud del mundo y de sus formas.