Quetzalcōātl

Quetzalcoatl, ‘Feathered Serpent’, was an Aztec god of the planet Venus, crafts and merchants, a creator who helped make humankind, and patron of the priesthood. As wind god he took human form as Ehecatl. Quetzalcoatl was also the title of the two chief priests of the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan.

In the legends of Tollan, the ruler Quetzalcoatl was tricked by his rival Tezcatlipoca and driven into exile. Sixteenth-century Spanish writers conflated the god with that ruler.