octli (FCbk10f11v)

This iconographic example, featuring a man drinking pulque (octli), is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making comparisons with related hieroglyphs. The term selected for this example comes from the keywords chosen by the team behind the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss, per se. This example shows a profile view (facing right) of a man seated on a petate-covered, rectangular seat. He is dressed in long trousers and a shirt with a ruffled neck (showing European influence). Over these clothes he wears a cloak (timatli) of an elite male. It is tied over his shoulder. The fabric has folds in a dark gray, a shading that gives it a three-dimensionality (learned from European artists). The man is holding and drinking from a rather flat bowl, perhaps a gourd bowl (e.g., ayotectli, atlihuani, tecomitl, tzohuacalli, or xicalli). In front of the man is a very large pitcher. The beverage in the pitcher has lots of dots hovering over it, probably an indication of foam or bubbles, iconography that is diagnostic for octli (pulque). The context of this man drinking is a reference to the bat tetzon (noble or offspring) who gets drunk.