Noah Pfister
World Lit. II
Prof. Benander
Janurary 10, 2011
The Popol Vuh is an interesting article written to tell the story of the creation of both mankind and the earth.
After reading the first five chapters, similarities can be found between the Christian account for creation and the events occurring within the Popol Vuh. I found that the reason for mankind to exist is consistent in both Christianity and this piece of Aztec literature. Christianity suggests that man was formed to ultimately to glory to God, similarly, the Aztec gods formed man so that they would have beings to who could constantly worship them, write down things about them (the gods), and ultimately remember the gods. In addition, mention of the seven deadly sins is incorporated in this story when one of the ones become too prideful. This again shows the correlation between the Christian faith and the Aztec beliefs.
However, I found the Aztec gods to be rather vane and power hungry. Although I realize that it is a strong part of this culture to be remembered and that was the gods ultimate goal.
Personally I found this literature to be somewhat difficult to read. The abundance of Latin and Spanish names served as several stumbling blocks for me. Overall, I enjoyed this account for creation, it provided me with a different view into a culture that i haven't studied before. Through this creation story, readers are able to start building a view of this ancient culture.
No comments:
Post a Comment