Nac._, ii, p.
254.] The apotheosis of Quetzalcoatl from the embers of his funeral pyre to the planet Venus has led several distinguished students of Mexican mythology to identify his whole history with the astronomical relations of this bright star.

Such an interpretation is, however, not only contrary to results obtained by the general science of mythology, but it is specifically in contradiction to the uniform statements of the old writers.

All these agree that it was not till _after_ he had finished his career, _after_ he had run his course and disappeared from the sight and knowledge of men, that he was translated and became the evening or morning star.[1] This clearly signifies that he was represented by the planet in only one, and that a subordinate, phase of his activity.

We can readily see that the relation of Venus to the sun, and the evening and morning twilights, suggested the pleasing tale that as the light dies in the west, it is, in a certain way, preserved by the star which hangs so bright above the horizon.
[Footnote 1: _Codex Telleriano-Remensis_, plate xiv.] Sec.4._Quetzalcoatl as Lord of the Winds._ As I have shown in the introductory chapter, the Light-God, the Lord of the East, is also master of the cardinal points and of the winds which blow from them, and therefore of the Air.
This was conspicuously so with Quetzalcoatl.

As a divinity he is most generally mentioned as the God of the Air and Winds.