2 The Popul Vuh
Patricia Bostian
Introduction
Our selection comes from the Mayan Popul Vuh, recorded in the 16th century using the Latin alphabet of the Spanish conquerors. The Mayans of the Yucatan Peninsula were converted to Roman Catholicism by Spanish missionaries but still recorded their historical texts in their native language. The epic was eventually translated into Spanish by the Dominican friar Francisco Ximénez in the 18th century. However, when this translation was lost, for almost 150 years, so too was the epic. The Popul Vuh was rediscovered in a Guatemalan library in the 1850s.
The text reflects the traditions of the Quiche Maya of Guatemala, but the section containing the story of creation was influenced by Christianity.
The epic is divided into a preamble and four sections, each further divided into chapters:
The Preamble attests to the antiquity of the oral text and how it was recorded after the Spanish conquest.
Part 1 provides an account of creation, tales of the Hero Hunahpú and Xbalanqué, and an introduction of the ball game that is seen in many visual representations in Mayan temples or court complexes such as Chichén Itzá.
The creation of animals is recounted first, but the gods are unhappy that the creatures cannot respond to them. They decide to make a new species out of mud. When that goes awry, wood is then used. Wood is marginally better than the weak mud, they can even speak and multiply, but they do not have souls and they fail to acknowledge their creators. Small animals attack the wooden creatures, and eventually a flood is sent to destroy them. The ones who survive become monkeys that are indigenous to Central America.
Part 2 provides a genealogy of the major characters and the famous ball game defeat, along with other contests of the lords of Xibalbá — the Underworld.
Part 3 returns to creation themes, particularly the creation of humans. The creators Tepeu and Gucumatz decide to try and make men out of maize (corn). Maize was a central crop for the Maya, and, like many other creation myths around the world, deities create humans from substances important to their culture. Yellow and white maize are ground together, mixed with corn drinks, and shaped into humans. However, this time the gods have made creatures that know as much as the gods themselves, which displeases them. The deity known as the Heart of Heaven blows a mist into the creatures’ eyes, limiting what humans can see and know.
Part 4 concludes with the recounting of historical migrations, the origins of rituals, the founding of cities, and the Quiche warfare with others. A final genealogy traces the leaders up to the Spanish conquest.
The following selections are from Lewis Spence’s Excerpts from The Popol Vuh: The Mythic and Heroic Sagas of the Quiche of Central America, 1908.
References
Lewis Spence, Excerpts from The Popol Vuh: The Mythic and Heroic Sagas of the Quiche of Central America, 1908. http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/pvuheng.htm
Dennis Te