Popol Vuh and Mayan Culture
Before the arrival of European conquistadores, various indigenous civilizations thrived and passed. One of these was the Maya. Centered in the tropical lands of present day Guatemala, the Maya were excellent at agriculture, calendar making, mathematics, astrology and had their own hieroglyph based writing system. However by 900 AD the Maya civilization vanished, and there has been great debate as to what caused this sudden abandonment of their cities.
Popol Vuh, a creation story from the Guatemalan western highlands discusses the creation of the earth and genealogy of the gods according to the Maya. According to the author, animals were created first, then man and then woman. The gods command for the plants …show more content…
This one was supposed to be a nurturer and provider. This creature was made of dirt and mud. This model failed also. Its body began crumbling, loosening, and disintegrating until it eventually dissolved in water completely. Not only that, but it had no neck movement and it’s face was lopsided as well. The gods gave up on this model, dismantled it and began plotting for a new model. In order to make this new model work, they assembled with other creators. They created the man’s body out of wood from the coral reef, and the woman from a pith of reeds. These were human in form and speak. They lived and multiplied, but they were empty from their mind and their hearts. They had no memory of their creators; their faces were dry and had neither sweat nor fat, with deformed bodies and crusty faces. A flood brought on by the Heart of the Sky killed these creatures. In an attempt to save themselves these creates tried to climb onto houses and trees, thus they became monkeys. This section of the story is used to explain the similarities between humans and …show more content…
They soon got the idea to make a new model out of maize, their staple food. This new human was made out of white and yellow corn for the body, and water for the blood. This new human, unless the previous one had grease, which was made out of mashed corn and water. This model went on to become present day humans.
The use of corn as the body of the final human experiment shows the connection these people felt to the plant. Because of the abundance of corn the Americas have, it is easy to see why the Maya thought the plant to be important. Corn was a major component in their diet, and it only made sense to believe that such an important stable was physically part of who they were.
The entire piece is dedicated to explain the reasons why the order of the world existed in that manner. For example, animals and plants are discusses and explained as to how they acquired a role of prey. One of the objects mentioned in the destruction scene of these creatures was a tortilla griddle. This is an important sentence because it establishes the importance the tortilla plays in Mayan culture. Not only was it a basic staple, but also it’s of historical importance. By having this item mentioned, even if it only appeared once, the idea that the Mayan saw the tortilla as an ancient part of their culture which can be traced back to the creation of the world. Which can be arguable treated almost as a religious
Before the arrival of European conquistadores, various indigenous civilizations thrived and passed. One of these was the Maya. Centered in the tropical lands of present day Guatemala, the Maya were excellent at agriculture, calendar making, mathematics, astrology and had their own hieroglyph based writing system. However by 900 AD the Maya civilization vanished, and there has been great debate as to what caused this sudden abandonment of their cities.
Popol Vuh, a creation story from the Guatemalan western highlands discusses the creation of the earth and genealogy of the gods according to the Maya. According to the author, animals were created first, then man and then woman. The gods command for the plants …show more content…
This one was supposed to be a nurturer and provider. This creature was made of dirt and mud. This model failed also. Its body began crumbling, loosening, and disintegrating until it eventually dissolved in water completely. Not only that, but it had no neck movement and it’s face was lopsided as well. The gods gave up on this model, dismantled it and began plotting for a new model. In order to make this new model work, they assembled with other creators. They created the man’s body out of wood from the coral reef, and the woman from a pith of reeds. These were human in form and speak. They lived and multiplied, but they were empty from their mind and their hearts. They had no memory of their creators; their faces were dry and had neither sweat nor fat, with deformed bodies and crusty faces. A flood brought on by the Heart of the Sky killed these creatures. In an attempt to save themselves these creates tried to climb onto houses and trees, thus they became monkeys. This section of the story is used to explain the similarities between humans and …show more content…
They soon got the idea to make a new model out of maize, their staple food. This new human was made out of white and yellow corn for the body, and water for the blood. This new human, unless the previous one had grease, which was made out of mashed corn and water. This model went on to become present day humans.
The use of corn as the body of the final human experiment shows the connection these people felt to the plant. Because of the abundance of corn the Americas have, it is easy to see why the Maya thought the plant to be important. Corn was a major component in their diet, and it only made sense to believe that such an important stable was physically part of who they were.
The entire piece is dedicated to explain the reasons why the order of the world existed in that manner. For example, animals and plants are discusses and explained as to how they acquired a role of prey. One of the objects mentioned in the destruction scene of these creatures was a tortilla griddle. This is an important sentence because it establishes the importance the tortilla plays in Mayan culture. Not only was it a basic staple, but also it’s of historical importance. By having this item mentioned, even if it only appeared once, the idea that the Mayan saw the tortilla as an ancient part of their culture which can be traced back to the creation of the world. Which can be arguable treated almost as a religious