Maya and Aztec

Ancient Mesoamerican civilizations

Archives for the ‘The Myths of Mexico and Peru’ Category

THE MYTHS OF MEXICO AND PERU. PREFACE. By Lewis Spence; 1913

Category: Books, The Myths of Mexico and Peru

PREFACE IN recent years a reawakening has taken place in the study of American archæology and antiquities, owing chiefly to the labours of a band of scholars in the United States and a few enthusiasts in the continent of Europe. For the greater part of the nineteenth century it appeared as if the last word […]



THE MYTHS OF MEXICO AND PERU. I. THE CIVILISATION OF MEXICO. By Lewis Spence; 1913

Category: Books, The Myths of Mexico and Peru

CHAPTER I: The Civilisation of Mexico The Civilisations of the New World THERE is now no question as to the indigenous origin of the civilisations of Mexico, Central America, and Peru. Upon few subjects, how. ever, has so much mistaken erudition been lavished. The beginnings of the races who inhabited these regions, and the cultures […]



THE MYTHS OF MEXICO AND PERU. II. MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY. By Lewis Spence; 1913

Category: Books, The Myths of Mexico and Peru

CHAPTER II: Mexican Mythology Nahua Religion THE religion of the ancient Mexicans was a polytheism or worship of a pantheon of deities, the general aspect of which presented similarities to the systems of Greece and Egypt. Original influences, however, were strong, and they are especially discernible in the institutions of ritualistic cannibalism and human sacrifice. […]



THE MYTHS OF MEXICO AND PERU. III. MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE ANCIENT MEXICANS. By Lewis Spence; 1913

Category: Books, The Myths of Mexico and Peru

CHAPTER III: Myths and Legends of the Ancient Mexicans The Mexican Idea of the Creation “IN the year and in the day of the clouds,” writes Garcia in his Origin de los Indias, professing to furnish the reader with a translation of an original Mixtec picture-manuscript, “before ever were years or days, the world lay […]



THE MYTHS OF MEXICO AND PERU. IV. THE MAYA RACE AND MYTHOLOGY. By Lewis Spence; 1913

Category: Books, The Myths of Mexico and Peru

CHAPTER IV: The Maya Race and Mythology The Maya It was to the Maya-the people who occupied the territory between the isthmus of Tehuantepec and Nicaragua-that the civilisation of Central America owed most. The language they spoke was quite distinct from the Nahuatl spoken by the Nahua of Mexico, and in many respects their customs […]



THE MYTHS OF MEXICO AND PERU. V. MYTHS OF THE MAYA. By Lewis Spence; 1913

Category: Books, The Myths of Mexico and Peru

CHAPTER V: Myths of the Maya Mythology of the Maya OUR knowledge of the mythology of the Maya is by no means so full and comprehensive as in the case of Mexican mythology. Traditions are few and obscure, and the hieroglyphic matter is closed to us. But one great mine of Maya-Kiche mythology exists which […]



THE MYTHS OF MEXICO AND PERU. VI. THE CIVILISATION OF OLD PERU. By Lewis Spence; 1913

Category: Books, The Myths of Mexico and Peru

CHAPTER VI: The Civilisation of Old Peru Old Peru IF the civilisation of ancient Peru did not achieve the standard of general culture reached by the Mexicans and Maya, it did not fall far short of the attainment of these peoples. But the degrading despotism under which the peasantry groaned in Inca times, and the […]



THE MYTHS OF MEXICO AND PERU. VII. THE MYTHOLOGY OF PERU. By Lewis Spence; 1913

Category: Books, The Myths of Mexico and Peru

CHAPTER VII; The Mythology of Peru The Religion of Ancient Peru THE religion of the ancient Peruvians had obviously developed in a much shorter time than that of the Mexicans. The more ancient character inherent in it was displayed in the presence of deities many of which were little better than mere totems, and although […]