As I stated in my last post, one of my many obsessions is the culture of the Aztecs. (I should mention that "Aztec" is a very imprecise term, so from now on, I shall use the term "Nahua," which includes all those in Mesoamerica who spoke a language from the Nahuatl family.) Currently I'm reading an excellent book called Aztec Thought and Culture by Miguel Leon-Portilla. It is almost certainly the best book I've ever read on the topic, and some of the poetry I read just this weekend seemed to tie in very nicely with the questions we've been discussing in class. For example, a passage attributed to King Nezahualcoyotl questions if there is anything stable and true in the world: Truly do we live on earth?
Not forever on earth; only a little while here.
Although it be jade, it will be broken,
Although it be gold, it is crushed,
Although it be quetzal feather, it is torn asunder.
Not forever on earth; only a little while here.
Another poet asks:
Do we speak the truth here, oh Giver of Life?
We merely a dream, we only rise from a dream.
All is like a dream . . .
No one speaks here of truth . . . .
Sounds a bit like the butterfly question, doesn't it? Many more Nahuatl poets and theologians questioned the existence of man and truth. Others assumed that truth exists, but questioned whether humans could obtain it:
Does man posses any truth?
If not, our song is no longer true.
Is anything stable and lasting?
What reaches its aim?
The part about all this which I find most interesting is that the Nahuas began to ask these questions two centuries before Socrates's time.
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3 comments:
I still don't know much about native Central and Southern Americans, but their culture interests me because it seems like they predated the Europeans in so many facets...
I could go on forever about the ways in which the Nahuas were more advanced than their "conquerors," but I'll restrain that urge. Aztec Thought and Culture is a great book if you'd like to learn more about the Nahuas, but make sure you get a translated version, as the original is in Spanish.
(I'm sorry I didn't respond to your post sooner; I didn't see it until just now.)
One of my life goals is to visit the ruins of Aztec civilization. I can't claim to be any kind of anthropologist on them, but I do love their architecture.
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