The Lovers: Popocatepetl & Iztaccíhuatl

The Nahuá origin story of the two volcanoes that overlook Mexico City

This week we are taking a break from the convivencia series, but it will be back next Sunday! 

Long ago, before the arrival of the Spanish, a different empire, the Aztec Empire, ruled the area now known as Mexico. As is the nature of empire, the Aztecs imposed a heavy tax burden upon the people over which they ruled, and eventually the chief of another Nahuá tribe, the Tlaxcaltecas, unable to tolerate the oppression of the Aztecs any longer, decided to go to war for his people’s freedom. 

The chief of the Tlaxcaltecas had a beautiful daughter named Iztaccíhuatl, who was in love with the chief’s best warrior, Popocatepetl. The chief promised the hand of his daughter in marriage to Popocatepetl if he was victorious in battle against the Aztecs. 

Popo and the other Tlaxcalteca warriors went off to battle and the battle raged for many days. Eventually Popo and his comrades were successful in defeating their Aztec oppressors, but another warrior who was jealous of Popo and who wanted Izta for himself hurried ahead of the other warriors and reported that Popo had died in battle. Izta, stricken with grief, died of a broken heart. 

Jesus Helguera, The Legend of the Volcanoes (La leyenda de los volcanes), 1940 

Popo and the other warriors returned to the Tlaxcalteca city, riding high on victory, only to encounter the funeral proceedings for Ixta. Popo, overcome with grief himself, lifted Izta in his arms and, taking a smoking torch, carried her into the mountains, where he laid her on the ground and kept watch over her body until he also died.

The gods were so moved by Popo and Izta’s great love for each other that they converted their bodies into mountains, and these mountains today form the volcanoes Popocatepetl & Iztaccíhuatl which overlook Mexico City. Iztaccíhuatl is often covered in snow, an occurrence that is reflected in the meaning of her name, “white lady.” When Popo, which means “smoking mountain,” remembers his beloved, the embers of his heart are kindled and the volcano emits smoke and ash.

Popo and Izta from Mexico City