What do Coyolxauhqui and Huitzilopochtli have in common?

They share no domain in this atlas: Coyolxauhqui is associated with moon, night, stars, and warfare, and Huitzilopochtli with sun, war, sacrifice, and tenochtitlan.

Which traditions do they belong to?

Both belong to the Aztec Pantheon.

Side by sideRivals

Coyolxauhqui vs Huitzilopochtli

Coyolxauhqui and Huitzilopochtli are recorded as rivals in the Aztec Pantheon.

Build your own comparison

At a glance

Coyolxauhqui and Huitzilopochtli compared
	Coyolxauhqui	Huitzilopochtli
Tradition	Aztec Pantheon	Aztec Pantheon
Domains	moon, night, stars, warfare	sun, war, sacrifice, Tenochtitlan
Symbols	copper bells, severed limbs, crescent moon, dismembered body	hummingbird, fire serpent (Xiuhcoatl)
Also called	She of the Bells on Her Cheeks, Golden Bells	Hummingbird of the South

Where they meet

The atlas records no domain or symbol that Coyolxauhqui and Huitzilopochtli share.

They are compared because of how the myths connect them, not because of what they rule.

Where they part

Only Coyolxauhqui

Associated with moon, night, stars, and warfare.

Only Huitzilopochtli

Associated with sun, war, sacrifice, and tenochtitlan.

How each was worshipped

Coyolxauhqui

Cult sites: The great disk at the foot of Templo Mayor

She is the dismembered moon on the stairs, a warning more than a goddess you petition. Cult evidence is the sculpture and the myth of Coatepec, not a living priesthood in her name.

Huitzilopochtli

Cult sites: Southern half of the Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlan
Festivals: Panquetzaliztli; Toxcatl adjacent in the same precinct

Hummingbird of the south, sun at war. The Templo Mayor was his and Tlaloc's stacked mountain. Panquetzaliztli raised banners and, in the Mexica state cult, human offerings to keep the sun in motion. That is the imperial rite, not a metaphor.

The two figures

Aztec Pantheon

Coyolxauhqui

The moon goddess, daughter of Coatlicue and leader of the 400 stars. Coyolxauhqui was slain and dismembered by her brother Huitzilopochtli at his miraculous birth, her defeat reenacted at every sunrise.

Coyolxauhqui was born to Coatlicue along with her 400 brothers, the stars. When her mother became pregnant through miraculous means, Coyolxauhqui led her brothers to kill her, but Huitzilopochtli was born at that moment and slew his sister, casting her dismembered body from the mountaintop.

Coyolxauhqui ("She of the Bells on Her Cheeks") was the Aztec **moon goddess** and daughter of the earth mother **Coatlicue**. Her name comes from the golden bells (coyolli) she wore on her face. Her violent dismemberment by her brother Huitzilopochtli is one of the central myths of Aztec religion.

Read the full Coyolxauhqui entry

Aztec Pantheon

Huitzilopochtli

The patron god of the Aztecs and Tenochtitlan. A solar warrior who requires blood sacrifice to battle the infinite night and keep the sun moving.

Born fully armed from his mother Coatlicue to defend her from his 400 siblings who plotted to kill her. He slew them and drove them away.

Huitzilopochtli was the **supreme deity of the Aztecs**, the divine patron of their empire, and the god who guided them from their mythical homeland of Aztlan to found the great city of **Tenochtitlan**. His name means "Hummingbird of the Left (South)" - the hummingbird symbolizing the souls of fallen warriors who accompanied the sun across the sky.

Read the full Huitzilopochtli entry

About this comparison

Comparisons pair figures that play a similar role across traditions, or that the myths connect within one. A shared role does not, by itself, establish a shared origin.