The book titled Popol Vuh written by Dennis Tedlock is a book filled with tales of mytho-historical narratives that were founded in the kingdom of K’iche’ in the West Highlands of Guatemala. The title Popol Vuh can be translated to mean the “Book of the People”. In Popol Vuh we can find many different tales, however the most popular tales are those of the creations myths, and the ones of the Hero Twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque. Popol Vuh has been a book that has greatly influenced the Mayan society in great ways. Despite the many influences that Mayans acquire from Popol Vuh the one that impacted them the most are the ideas of the ball game, sacrificial ceremonies, and pleasing the Gods.
The ball game in the book was played by the heroic …show more content…
Nonetheless there are also quite a few similarities between some of the messages that these texts convey. One thing that all of these texts have in common is that they all have a greater force above them that influences them in their decisions. For example, in “Popol Vuh” when Xibalba sends a messenger to Hunahpu and Xbalanque home the grandma is forced to inform the boys even though she thought “How can I send for my grandchildren? Isn’t it really Xibalba, just as it was when their fathers die?? (Tedlock, pg.113). Hunahpu and Xbalanque’s grandmother knew that sending her grandchildren off to Xibalba was not a favorable choice, but she had no other choice when a God asked for it. Resembling Hunahpu and Xbalanque’s grandmother Zahak had to listen to Elbis. Elbis instructed Zahak to kill his father “When Zahak heard this, his heart grew heavy with the thought of shedding his father’s blood.” (Lashigari pg.3). Zahak refused to follow Elbis’ orders, but Elbis mentioned that if he broke the oath he had with him he would become no one, he would become tiny while his father only became more and more powerful leaving him nothing. When Zahak heard what Elbis told him he quickly forgot that he was killing his own father and told Elbis “Tell me how I must accomplish this act” (Lashigari …show more content…
The first obvious difference between the texts is that they belong to different cultures and convey a different message. “Popol Vuh” is a Mayan book filled with multiple myths one being on how humans came into creation. Likewise “Zahak the Dragon King” is a mytho-historical narrative, however this myth is found in the Iranian community. “Gassire’s Lute: A West African Epic” is, as stated in the title, an epic from the Western area of Africa. In this epic the message that it is trying to convey is that we are all who we are for a reason and we must accept our flaws. Lastly, the “Book of Job”, the “Book of Matthew” and “Amos” are all part of the Christian bible. These three readings informed about different situations in a person’s life that is based on
The ball game in the book was played by the heroic …show more content…
Nonetheless there are also quite a few similarities between some of the messages that these texts convey. One thing that all of these texts have in common is that they all have a greater force above them that influences them in their decisions. For example, in “Popol Vuh” when Xibalba sends a messenger to Hunahpu and Xbalanque home the grandma is forced to inform the boys even though she thought “How can I send for my grandchildren? Isn’t it really Xibalba, just as it was when their fathers die?? (Tedlock, pg.113). Hunahpu and Xbalanque’s grandmother knew that sending her grandchildren off to Xibalba was not a favorable choice, but she had no other choice when a God asked for it. Resembling Hunahpu and Xbalanque’s grandmother Zahak had to listen to Elbis. Elbis instructed Zahak to kill his father “When Zahak heard this, his heart grew heavy with the thought of shedding his father’s blood.” (Lashigari pg.3). Zahak refused to follow Elbis’ orders, but Elbis mentioned that if he broke the oath he had with him he would become no one, he would become tiny while his father only became more and more powerful leaving him nothing. When Zahak heard what Elbis told him he quickly forgot that he was killing his own father and told Elbis “Tell me how I must accomplish this act” (Lashigari …show more content…
The first obvious difference between the texts is that they belong to different cultures and convey a different message. “Popol Vuh” is a Mayan book filled with multiple myths one being on how humans came into creation. Likewise “Zahak the Dragon King” is a mytho-historical narrative, however this myth is found in the Iranian community. “Gassire’s Lute: A West African Epic” is, as stated in the title, an epic from the Western area of Africa. In this epic the message that it is trying to convey is that we are all who we are for a reason and we must accept our flaws. Lastly, the “Book of Job”, the “Book of Matthew” and “Amos” are all part of the Christian bible. These three readings informed about different situations in a person’s life that is based on