Legends and History
He and his wife, Mama Quilla, the Moon goddess, were generally considered benevolent deities. Mama Quilla supposedly gave birth to the Earth. According to an ancient myth, Inti taught his son Manco Cápac and his daughter Mama Ocllo the arts of civilization and they were sent to earth to pass this knowledge to mankind. Another legend however states Manco Cápac was the son of Viracocha.
Inti ordered his children to build the Inca capital where a divine golden wedge they carried with them would penetrate the earth. Incas believed this happened in the city of Cuzco. The Inca ruler was considered to be the living representative of Inti.
Willaq Umu was the High Priest of the Sun (Inti). The Incas believed that the Sapa Inca was the living son of Inti the sun god. His position placed him as the second most powerful person in the kingdom. He was directly underneath the Sapa Inca, and they were often brothers. The emperor's family was believed to be descended from Inti.
Inti was also known as Apu Punchau, which means "leader daytime". Inti is represented as a golden disk with a human face. A great golden disk representing Inti was captured by the Spanish conquistadors in 1571 and was sent to the Pope via Spain. It has since been lost.
Read more about this topic: Inti
Famous quotes containing the words legends and/or history:
“a child’s
Forgotten mornings when he walked with his mother
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Of sunlight
And the legends of the green chapels
And the twice-told fields of infancy”
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“There is a constant in the average American imagination and taste, for which the past must be preserved and celebrated in full-scale authentic copy; a philosophy of immortality as duplication. It dominates the relation with the self, with the past, not infrequently with the present, always with History and, even, with the European tradition.”
—Umberto Eco (b. 1932)