Centeōtl
mexica god of maize
In Aztec mythology, Centeōtl [senˈteoːt͡ɬ], also known as Centeōcihuātl or Cinteōtl, is the maize deity. Cintli [ˈsint͡ɬi] means "dried maize still on the cob" and teōtl [ˈteoːt͡ɬ] means "deity". According to the Florentine Codex, Centeōtl is the son of the earth goddess Tlazōlteōtl and solar deity Piltzintecuhtli, the planet Mercury. He was born on the day-sign 1 Xōchitl. Another myth claims him as the son of the goddess Xōchiquetzal. The majority of evidence gathered on Centeōtl suggests that he is usually portrayed as a young man (although a debate is still ongoing), with yellow body colouration. Some specialists believe that Centeōtl used to be the maize goddess Chicomecōātl. Centeōtl was considered one of the most important deities of the Aztec era. There are many standard features shared in depictions of Centeōtl. For example, there often seems to be maize in his headdress.
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This entry incorporates text from “Centeōtl” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.