Bochica
Muisca · demigod · mythic · Recorded classification
Muisca civilizing culture-hero, bearded old man who taught law, crafts and morals, then drained the flood at Tequendama.
Domains
- civilization
- law
Powers
- Shatter the rocks at Tequendama to drain the great flood
- Teach the people weaving, agriculture and metalworking
- Appear and depart upon a rainbow before the Muisca
Epithets
- Bochica the bearded civilising culture-hero who taught crafts, morals and the calendar to the Muisca, also called Nemqueteba and Xue ('lord'); breaker of the Tequendama falls to drain the floodSimón, Fray Pedro. Noticias historiales de las conquistas de Tierra Firme (1627), Part 2 (primary chronicle); Piedrahíta, Lucas Fernández de. Historia general de las conquistas del Nuevo Reino de Granada (1688) (primary chronicle)
Relations
- enemy: HuitacaThe goddess of pleasure preached against his law; Bochica turned Huitaca into an owl (in some accounts the moon).Pedro Simon, Noticias Historiales (1626) (primary)
- enemy: ChibchacumWhen Chibchacum flooded the savanna, Bochica opened the falls of Tequendama and condemned him to carry the earth, his shifting felt as earthquakes.Pedro Simon, Noticias Historiales (1626) (primary)
- companion: CuchaviraReciprocal of muisca_cuchavira.companion — The rainbow, 'shining air,' venerated as the sign on which Bochica appeared at Tequendama.Pedro Simon, Noticias Historiales (1626) (primary)
Sources
- existence: Pedro Simón, Noticias historiales (c.1625); Rodríguez Freyle, El Carnero (primary)