Discourses of the elders : the Aztec Huehuetlatolli : a first English translation

Discourses of the elders The Aztec Huehuetlatolli : a first English translation

Book - 2023

A philosophy grounded not in a transcendent divinity, afterlife, or individualism, but in a rooted communal life.--

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Subjects
Aztec philosophy.
Published
New York : W.W. Norton & Company [2023]
Language
English
Latin
Other Authors
Andrés de Olmos, approximately 1491-1570 or 1571 (compiler), Sebastian Purcell (translator)
Edition
First edition
Item Description
"collected by Friar Andrés de Olmos circa 1535 with supplemental texts."
In English, translated from Latin.
Physical Description
lix, 164 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9781324020585
  • Translator's Introduction
  • Notes to the Translator's Introduction
  • Part I. The Discourses of the Elders
  • Exhortation in which the father speaks and edifies his son as follows so that he may live virtuously
  • Answer in which the son in this way replies to his father
  • Words of exhortation by which the mother thus speaks, instructs her daughter
  • The daughter's response to her mother and her thanks for the talk and edification
  • The father's exhortation, edification by which he exhorts his son when he is still a little boy
  • The exhortation, edification in which the father exhorts and educates his son
  • The father's exhortation, how he speaks to his son when he is of the age that he wants to get married
  • Here is how the boy responds, gives something in return
  • Here is how a father exhorts his son when he has married
  • Words of exhortation that the father says to his married, beloved son
  • Response in which the son answers his father's word in this way (metaphorical language)
  • Exhortation in which our men speak to their women, whom they have married in church
  • Response in which the woman returns the word to her husband
  • Words of greeting by which some nobleman greets, speaks to one else who is a lord or noble
  • Answer in which the ruler replies to the gentleman who greeted him
  • Salutations by which a lady greets, speaks to another who is also a lady
  • Answer given by the lady who has been visited
  • Words of exhortation from nobles, rulers of Tetzcoco, who spoke in this manner to the neighbors there, long ago, and with this discourse make them see how the Lord Jesus Christ came here
  • Here is how the rulers converse about government, so that the mount and water may not be ruined in their hands, that they may carry it well on their shoulders, that they may have it in their charge, that they may lead the tail and wing well. In this exhortation other peoples may take example.
  • Here is the exhortation to the already prudent, to the already grown-up youngster
  • Here is the exhortation to the gentlemen, the aldermen, and the mayors, who have been elected in this way
  • Here is what relieves, what heals people. When someone who has harmed something important of a gentleman, of one of lineage, when that someone has committed adultery, has stolen.
  • Here is the admonition of other elders who, in Tepeyacac, were instructing in this way
  • Exhortation to those being educated in the church; how they can serve Dios, how they will go to confession and how they will prepare themselves for communion
  • Exhortation to those who live in the temple, that they may fully believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, and thus guard his commandments well, as a marvelous thing
  • Here is what the physician, the one who cures people, is obliged to do, how he should speak to and comfort the sick
  • Exhortation by which people are straightened, telling them how great, how important Christianity and the Christian life are
  • Talk explaining that it is a great distinction, a great honor, to receive the Holy Baptism, the wetting of the head
  • Talk in which it is explained how it is very great, very honorable that we have been helped by the loving suffering and the loving death of our God, our Lord Jesus Christ
  • Part II. Social Role Descriptions
  • Priests, Astronomers, and Philosophers
  • The Philosopher; Tlamatini
  • The Craftsman: Toltecatl
  • The Mystery Worker: Nahualli
  • The Soothsayer, Reader of Days: Tlapouhqui, Tonalpouhqui
  • The Owlman: Tlacatecolotl
  • The Brave Man: Oquichtli
  • The Ruler: Tlahtoani
  • A Lady: Cihuatecuhtli
  • The Bad Youth: Telpochtlahueliloc
  • The Bad Married Woman: Tetzauhcihuatl
  • The Bad Old Man: Huehuetlahueliloc
  • The Pleasure Woman: Ahuiani
  • Acknowledgments
  • Philosophical Glossary
  • References
  • Index
Review by Kirkus Book Review

The first English translation of a key text of Aztec philosophy. In the eyes of Mexico's Spanish conquerors, the Aztec or Nahua people were idolaters. A friar named Andrés de Olmos (circa 1485-1571) was more sympathetic; renowned in his day for his mastery of the Nahuatl language, he took an interest in what these people actually thought. Purcell, a philosophy professor at SUNY--Cortland, works with Olmos' text, begun in 1535, to produce a work that will remind some readers of the principal Confucian texts in their "virtue ethics"--though with an emphasis less on individual comportment than the instruction of the group to arrive at proper decisions. There is both an element of exoticism to the text and many important philosophical insights. As Purcell notes, "the Nahuas reason that all our actions are subject to an impressive degree of luck, so that whether those actions go well or poorly is often beyond our individual control." Most of the pieces in this collection are instructions reminding well-bred (and probably well-born) young people of how to live with humility and in service to society. "Do not best people with your words and so cut off their speech," reads one dictum. "Do not talk unkindly to people, do not make them forget or fail to conserve those words which are good." Instructions to young women give them slightly less room to roam: "Take charge of the spindle, the weaving tablet….In that way you will deserve a bit of atole, a folded tortilla, some greens, some cactus." Purcell does a good job teasing out the Christian elements that Olmos may have inserted in an earlier example of syncretism, and while his discussion of Nahuatl grammar in relation to these texts can be a touch daunting--e.g., when he describes the language as "maximally omnipredicative"--the book reads fluently. A strong contribution to our understanding of an important tradition of Indigenous ethics. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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