According to some accounts, Quetzalcoatl died in the Hiding-nook of the snakes, in the Goatzacoalco country; according to others, he suddenly disappeared toward the east, and a ship, formed of snakes wound together, brought him to Tlapalla.
A closer view and criticism of this tale, in the light of the analogy of mythological laws, shows us that Quetzalcoatl is the euhemerized religious ideal of the Toltecan nations. The similarity of this tale with those of Manco Capac, Botschika, Saturn, and others, is at once apparent. The opinion of Prescott, Wuttke, and many others, who held him for a deified man, founder of a religion and of a civilization, is confirmed by the latest version of the fable, in which Quetzalcoatl is represented in this character. Although euhemerism is an old idea with all people, as well as with the Americans--personification being the first step toward it--the general reasons which everywhere appear against the existence of such founders of a civilization must also be made to speak against this idea of Quetzalcoatl.
If a special value is placed upon the white face and the beard, it must be remembered that the beard, which is given to the Mexican priests, could not be omitted with Quetzalcoatl; and the mention by some of his having had a white face, and by others a red, might arouse a suspicion that Quetzalcoatl has been represented as a white man on account of his white robe.
The fable of Quetzalcoatl contains contradictions, the younger elements of which are a pure idealism of the more ancient. For instance, the statement that the earth produced everything spontaneously, without human labor, does not agree with the old version of the myth, according to which Quetzalcoatl taught agriculture and other industries requiring application and hard work. The sentimental love of peace has also been attributed to this god in later times, during a time when the Toltecs had lost the martial spirit of their victorious ancestors, and when the Cholulans, given to effeminacy, distinguished themselves more by cunning than by courage. The face of the god is represented, in the fable, as more beautiful and attractive, than it is depicted on the images. At the place where he was most worshiped, in Cholula, the statue of Quetzalcoatl stood in his temple, on the summit of the great pyramid. Its features had a gloomy cast, and differed from the beautiful face which is said to have been his on earth.