Aztec kings and the Codex Durán: the metaphorical underpinnings of rulership

The article discusses the 1473 civil war between the two cities that formed the capital of the Aztec Empire, Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco, as presented in the Codex Durán. The featured players are the kings of the two cities, Axayacatl and Moquihuix, respectively. The methodology combines the analysis of texts, manuscript images, and archaeology to argue the thesis that the Western style literal rendition of the events in the colonial texts and images include remnants of the pre-Conquest symbolic thought behind the choreography of the events. [Abridged Publication Abstract]