Tōnatiuh

Tonatiuh

In Mesoamerican culture, Tonatiuh was an important Aztec sun god. He watched over the daytime sky and ruled the direction of east. Tonatiuh was first shown in art from the Toltec people. He was seen as a strong and brave god, often pictured with an eagle.

The Aztecs believed that Tonatiuh traveled across the sky each day, going down in the west and rising in the east. They thought his journey needed the help of people to keep going. His name means "He Who Goes Forth Shining" or "He Who Makes The Day."

Tonatiuh was once thought to be the main god on the Aztec calendar stone, but this is no longer believed to be true. In Toltec culture, Tonatiuh was sometimes linked with Quetzalcoatl, another important god.

Creation myths

The Aztecs told stories about how the sun god Tonatiuh began. They believed the Earth and everything on it had been made and destroyed five times, each time with a different sun god. The first four suns were called "4 Jaguar", "4 Wind", "4 Water", and "4 Rain". Each time ended with everything destroyed by forces linked to each sun.

Tonatiuh was the god of the fifth and current age. One story says that for Tonatiuh to appear, a great sacrifice was needed. Two gods, Nanahuatl and Teucciztecatl, offered themselves, but Tonatiuh still would not rise until the god Xolotl gave himself up. In another version, after the sacrifices, Tonatiuh rose but did not move until the wind god Ehecatl blew on him, helping him start his journey across the sky. The Aztecs, including the Mexica people, kept these important stories close to their hearts.

Aztecs • Mexica • Teotihuacan • Nanahuatl • Teucciztecatl • Xolotl • Bernardino de Sahagún • Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl

Representations and iconographic depictions

The Aztec calendar stone is often linked to Tonatiuh, the sun god. Some scholars think the face in the middle of the stone might actually be Tlaltecuhtli, an earth monster. The stone has four sections around the center, which might show the four times before Tonatiuh, known as the fifth sun.

Tonatiuh is sometimes shown in red with an eagle feather headdress and holding a shield that looks like the sun. The eagle is important because it shows how the sun was thought to capture the life force of people. This is part of stories about how the sun god was connected to important traditions.

Belief in Alvarado as Tonatiuh

When the Spanish came to Mexico in the 1500s, the Aztecs called the explorer Pedro de Alvarado "Tonatiuh." They thought he looked like their sun-god because he had a red beard and seemed very fierce. The Aztec ruler Moctezuma II met Alvarado and another Spanish leader, Hernán Cortés. The Aztecs told Moctezuma about these men and said Alvarado looked like the sun, so they gave him the name "Tonatiuh," meaning the Sun or the Child of the Sun.