Mesoamerica
(Image of Twins
from Dresden Codex at http://www.historyserver.org/lords/mayafldr/1dres.html#2creat
Hunahpu is headless and bound. )
POPUL VUH
The Quiché Mayan book of creation. It begins with the deeds
of the Mayan gods in the darkness of a primeval sea and ends with the radiant
splendor of the Mayan lords who founded the Quiché kingdom in the Guatemalan
highlands. It was originally written in Mayan hieroglyphs but was transcribed
into the Roman alphabet in the sixteenth century. This book is the most important
source of Mayan mythology and cosmology. The name means "the book of the written
leaves".
From the Encyclopedia Mythica http://www.pantheon.org/mythica/
- Translation and resources on Popul Vuh from POPOL
VUH: Structure and Meaning by Margaret McClear (Madrid: Collección
Plaza Mayor Scholar, 1973; 31-67). This page also includes other links on
Popul Vuh. Part of Reinventing
Literary History site maintained at Barnard College.
http://www.barnard.columbia.edu/english/reinventingliteraryhistory/secure/americas/origins/populvuh.htm
Books:
- Dennis Tedlock, trans. Popol Vuh: The Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life.
NY: Simon & Schuster, 1996.
- Victor Montejo. (Illustrations by Luis Garay) Popol Vuh: A Sacred Book
of the Maya. Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, 1999. Juvenile --
beautiful illustrations but slightly difficult text.
MAYAN BACKGROUND
(Image from Florentine
Codex? at http://www.umich.edu/~proflame/texts/mirror/quetzal.html.)
QUETZALCOATL SITES
Quetzalcoatl, whose name means Plumed Serpent, is credited in Mexican thought
with the creation of humans and their instruction in the use of metals and the
cultivation of the land. According to tradition, Quetzalcoatl was involved in
the creation and destruction of the Four Suns, a succession of eras and worlds
each with its own distinct lifeforms. At the end of the Fourth Sun, Quetzalcoatl
was forced to flee the city of Cholula for Tlapallan. "...then he went to reach
the sea coast. Thereupon he fashioned a raft of serpents. When he had arranged
(the raft), there he placed himself, as if it were his boat. Then he set off
going across the sea. No one knows how he came to arrive there at Tlapallan."
(Florentine Codex) In all accounts, his return was eagerly anticipated. (From
http://www.umich.edu/~proflame/texts/mirror/quetzal.html.)
- http://www.highfiber.com/~nahualli/Quetzalcoatl.htm
Brant Gardner's personal site for Quetzalcoatl. Gardner is not a professional
academic but his thoughtful notes, analysis and annotated bibliography are quite
useful.
- http://weber.ucsd.edu/~anthclub/quetzalcoatl/quetzal.htm
Quetzalcoatl site by the student anthropology society at UCSD.
- Books:
John Bierhorst, ed. The Hungry Woman: Myths and Legends of the Aztecs.
NY: William Morrow Co., 1984.
Edward Kissam and Michael Schmidt, trans. Poems of the Aztec Peoples.
U of Michigan: Bilingual Press, 1983.
AZTEC BACKGROUND:
(Image from: http://www.rjames.com/toltec/myth2.htm.)
MISCELLANEOUS MYTHS AND
STORIES AND LESSONS:
8/03