Abstract

This article focuses on the comparison and representation of the figure of Manco Cápac in twenty-one chronicles of the Incas, during the period spanning from mid-16th century until 1653. The paper's main objective is to discuss the moral characterization of this character and its implications in the discussion about the legitimacy of the Inca dynasty in Peru. Finally, I will focus on Historia índica and Comentarios reales in order to analyze the role played by Manco Cápac in these chronicles and the imprint that their authors make on the vision of the pre-Hispanic past, either with regards to the tyranny of the Incas or to the Tahuantinsuyo as a space for the prefiguration Christianity. In addition, I will discuss the concept of allegory raised by critics in relation to the Manco Cápac represented by Inca Garcilaso.