I found the Popol Vuh quite interesting. I was not really sure what to expect of it before starting it, not really sure what time of stories were going to be told and in what way. It is interesting how even with multiple translations you still get the feeling from the language that it is used that this is an old piece of work and from a culture that did oral story telling.
The stories in the Popol Vuh was actually quite similar to biblical stories from Christianity I found. While reading the Popol Vuh I kept finding similarities. In both before creation the world was dark and then through divine intervention the earth was created and populated with plants and animals and people. There is also a flood in both the bible and the Popol Vuh that was sent to punish humans and lasted for many days and nights while the earth was in darkness. But the K’iche’ stories go beyond Christianity as they have more details and more stories in general.
But in the Popol Vuh there is not one all powerful deity but a great number of them. Wow there are a lot of them. I knew that the Mayan culture is a polytheistic one since I have studied it previously in other classes but sometimes I forget just how many there are. It was actually a bit confusing at times trying to keep all the names straight, especially at the beginning when it was talking about the creation of the earth and everything on and in it. It also seemed that different gods had multiple names, which were used interchangeably, making it even harder to remember who is who. In some of the stories, like the ones with Seven Macaw, were easier to remember who everyone was.
Something that I found really interesting was that the gods are not shown as perfect all knowing beings that never make mistakes. They are imperfect, they make mistakes, for example their different attempts to create humans properly, and they are not all powerful. In many ways they are quite like humans as they can be proud, they fight with each other, and they have to face consequences. So at the end of the day the gods can be seen as just as human as the humans are themselves except that the gods have supernatural powers and control over the world that greatly outdoes what the humans have.
I also found it super interesting how the Popol Vuh compared to the Bible, and the similarities and differences between them. I agree with all of the similarities you pointed out, as well as how the Popol Vuh narrates the gods saying “earth” and there was earth, just like God said “let there be light” and there was light. I also find it interesting how the Popol Vuh serves as a moral/ethical guide of conduct for Maya K’iche’s just as the Bible does for Christians, but how many differences there are, such as multiple gods like you pointed out, when comparing cosmovisions between different cultures.
“But in the Popol Vuh there is not one all powerful deity but a great number of them. Wow there are a lot of them.”
Yes, the sheer number of characters (the 400 boys!) was striking. This is a creation story, but very soon we find ourselves in a densely populated world.
Hey Anja, I really enjoyed the way you highlight the flawed nature of the deities in the work. I found it interesting how the responsibility each deity faces depends on their seniority. Seven Macaw and his sons are forced to pay for their outward displays of boastfulness, but the Lord of Xibalba, for example, faces no consequences for tricking and killing One and Seven Hunahpu. Or the Grandmother and Grandfather who trick Seven Macaw, sealing his and his wife’s fate, but again, they are never made to pay for this. There is certainly a flexibility in punishment depending on the deity’s role in this unlabeled hierarchy
Hello,
Really interesting analysis about how Gods make mistakes in Popol Vuh. I also found very interesting how they recognize that as much as nature and things in general will only exist through their naming they (gods) themselves include them in this equation since they can only keep existing when someone keeps naming them and hence they need this ‘reciprocal’ dynamics from humans. Humans therefore seem as important and as equal in that sense to gods since both have the power to name things and bring things into existence.
I saw the same parallel as you with Abrahamic religions and this text. The concept of the flood and this sort of “cleansing” the earth (quite literally) of sin is an especially interesting parallel. However, you raise an interesting point with regards to how the gods in the Popol Vuh are imperfect which is especialy evident when they’re creating humans. With other texts such as those from the Bible or the Quran, God is painted as an all knowing being who is deliberate in his making of humans either from dirt or water. However, these gods make several attempts until they land on corn.