Reveiw of the Polpol Vuh

Roynald Wright
Professor Benander
28 ENG 222
08 January 2011

　

Review of the Popol Vuh

　

Throughout time, an ancient civilization has become extinct. This civilization was the Maya. The Maya civilization is credited with the building of truly awe-inspiring temples, pyramids and cities. They are known to have developed and thrived within a complex social and political order. This culture has been noted for it’s popular Mayan calendar. A whole culture has been wiped clean from text books, but the stories still remain. One book in particular is called Popol Vuh.. The Popol Vuh discusses the development of the world and mankind, and the struggles the Gods had with the coping with the way the “wood people”.
Being an avid Christian, I do stand by what I was brought up to believe, but comparing the Bible to the Popol Vuh did create and on going battle of similarities and differences in my head. The book of Genesis states that in the beginning there was nothing but heaven and he (God), who commenced to creating the earth and all its creatures. Not shunning the Mayan belief , but in the Mayan translation of the beginning of times, there were more then one God, which discussed and deliberated about the creation of man. This created some controversy in my head. How can it be more than one God and is it possible? Both the Christian and Mayan people believe that man and animals were created to worship and honor the creator, but in the Christian faith , men were not made out of wood. Another similarity is when God was very disappointed in humans, he sent a massive flood upon the earth as did Huracan, the God of the sea in the Mayan belief.
I do not completely disagree with the Popol Vuh and its belief system, but I feel that this book is a little farfetched. It puts me in a mind set of Greek mythology, which in my opinion, both are great to read about for literature purposes, but only for entertainment. I’m open to all cultures, only if documentation is involved.