Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, is one of the greatest gods of Mesoamerica, worshipped under that name by the Aztecs and, under related names, across the region for many centuries before them. He is a creator, a culture-hero and a god of wind, of learning, of the arts and of the priesthood, and he is joined to the planet Venus as the morning star. The name unites the quetzal, the bird of brilliant green feathers, with the serpent, earth and sky, the crawling and the flying, brought together in a single being.
As the wind god he bears the aspect Ehecatl, and his round temples were built to let the wind pass through them. He is the great benefactor of humankind in Aztec myth: it is Quetzalcoatl who descends into the underworld of Mictlan to recover the bones of the dead of former ages and, mixing them with his own blood drawn in penance, brings forth the human race of the present world; and he is credited with the gift of maize and of the knowledge that sustains civilised life.