Opochtli (Nahuatl pronunciation: [/ˈoːpoːt͡ʃt͜ɬi/]) was one of the gods of the Aztec pantheon. He was considered the god of fishing and hunting, and commonly seen riding a dolphin [1] as well as one of the representatives of the rain god Tlaloc. In Nahuatl, his name means The Left or The Left-Handed. He was the god who threw his spear with his left hand. Since the Aztecs saw the west as the primary cardinal point, the south was on the left according to their orientation. Opochtli was therefore also associated with the south. He is said to have invented the atlatl, the net, the canoe pole, and the bird snare.[2]

Sources

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  1. ^ Biblioteca Porrúa. Imprenta del Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Historia y Etnología, ed. (1905). Diccionario de Mitología Nahua (in Spanish). México. p. 10. ISBN 978-9684327955.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ Burr Cartwright Brundage (1979). The Fifth Sun: Aztec Gods, Aztec World. México: University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0292756052.
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