Fallen From Heaven
The Enduring Tradition of Europeans as Gods in the Americas

Sheds light on the dynamic Indigenous and European perspectives on spiritual power across North America, Mexico, the Andes, and Hawaii.

Nicholas Griffiths (Author)

9781009549806, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 19 December 2024

356 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 2.5 cm, 0.66 kg

'Griffiths has achieved a rare feat: to revisit well-trodden ground from an astonishingly fresh perspective. At every stage, he forces us to re-think our deep-rooted preconceptions of what non-European peoples have made of the strange and often terrifying intruders that began to disrupt their worlds in increasing numbers from the late fifteenth century onwards. Marked by impeccable scholarship and disciplined imagination, Fallen from Heaven will become an indispensable reference point for anyone interested in re-imagining the period anachronistically called 'The Age of Discovery'.' Fernando Cervantes, author of Conquistadores: A New History

Debunking the so-called apotheosis myth, Nicholas Griffiths argues that Indigenous peoples in North America, Mexico, the Andes, and Hawaii during the early modern period (1492–1789) did not believe invading Europeans were gods. Instead, many perceived them as 'more-than-human' intruders of considerable spiritual power. By exploring the Indigenous context and terminology, using published primary and secondary sources, the book investigates what natives meant when they used words that Europeans translated as 'gods.' In contrast to traditional accounts, Griffiths centers native points of view and the dynamic interactions between European and Indigenous perspectives. Ultimately, both groups were fundamentally comparable since both interpreted their mutual contact in terms of their pre-existing mythology. The traditional contrast between the scientific, rational, and modern Europeans on the one hand, and the myth-bound, irrational, pre-modern Indigenous peoples on the other, is entirely misleading. The first book-length synthesis of this myth, Griffiths reinterprets ideas that have long been debated in various regional literatures.

Introduction page
1. The tradition of the apotheosis in early Spanish America
2. The tradition of the apotheosis in Mesoamerica
3. The tradition of the apotheosis in the Andes
4. The European mythology of the indies – from the sixteenth to the early eighteenth century
5. The tradition of the apotheosis in North America
6. The European mythology of the indies – the enlightenment
7. The tradition of the apotheosis in Hawaiʻi
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Colonialism & imperialism [HBTQ]