Mesoamerican Mythology A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America

by Read, Kay Almere; Gonzalez, Jason J.

• ISBN13: 9780195149098
• ISBN10: 0195149092
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-10-17
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

An excellent resource, Handbook of Mesoamerican Mythology introduces readers to the mythology of Mexico and Central America. Its chief focus is on Mexican Highland and Maya areas, as they were, and are, of utmost importance to Mesoamerican history. An extensive and edifying introduction defines the nature of myth, the Mesoamericans as a people, and the cultural worldview that informed Mesoamerican mythology. The Handbook presents historical and mythological timelines, with each time period and cultural group fully defined. Also featured is a quick geographical and historical survey of Mesoamerica from the Paleoindian Era to the present, as well as a discussion of some of the challenges and possibilities that structure Mesoamerican studies. Moreover, an extensive reference list and a glossary of cultural and mythological terms are included, and pronunciation guides are given throughout. With an annotated bibliography that ranges from film to websites, fiction to poetry, and from introductory to scholarly works, the book is an all-embracing portal to its subject.

Author Biography

Kay Almere Read is Associate Professor of Comparative Religion at DePaul University and is the author of Time and Sacrifice in the Aztec Cosmos. Jason J. Gonzalez is a graduate student in anthropology, specializing in Maya archaeology, at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He has extensive field-experience on archaeological projects in Mesoamerica and the United States, as well as on the Pacific islands of Micronesia.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Introduction	1	(78)
Myths and the Real World	4	(3)
The Mesoamerican Mythmakers	7	(25)
Who are the Mesoamericans?	7	(5)
How Do We Know about Mesoamericans?	12	(6)
The Mythmakers' Worldviews	18	(2)
Cosmic Topography	20	(4)
Power-filled Inhabitants	24	(2)
Calendrically Determined Transformation	26	(3)
Sacrifice	29	(3)
Mesoamerican Cultural History	32	(44)
The Paleo-Indian (ca 25,000 B.C.-7000 B.C.)	36	(1)
The Archaic (ca 7000-2000 B.C.)	37	(1)
The Preclassic Period (ca 2000 B.C.-A.D. 250)	38	(7)
The Classic Period (ca A.D. 250-900/1000)	45	(7)
The Postclassic Period (ca A.D 900/1000-1521)	52	(8)
The Spanish Conquest and Colonization of Mesoamerica (1521-1808)	60	(7)
Independence to the Present (1808-2000)	67	(9)
Notes	76	(3)
Mythic Timelines	79	(48)
Two Mythic Histories: K'iche' and Nahua	81	(33)
K'iche' Maya History	81	(9)
Nahua History	90	(24)
Mythological Time	114	(9)
Time's Purpose	115	(2)
Time's Workings	117	(6)
Notes	123	(4)
Deities, Themes, and Concepts	127	(140)
Acamapichtli, Lord	127	(1)
Ahuitzotl, Lord	128	(2)
Ajitz C'oxol	130	(1)
Bacabs	130	(2)
Bats	132	(2)
Blood Woman	134	(1)
Calendar Deities	135	(2)
Canek	137	(2)
Chac and the Chacs	139	(1)
Chalchiuhtlicue	140	(3)
Christ	143	(4)
Cihuacoatl	147	(2)
Cizin	149	(1)
Coatlicue	150	(2)
Cortes, Fernando (Hernan)	152	(2)
Coyolxauhqui	154	(2)
Cuauhtemoc, Lord	156	(2)
Dead, Day of the	158	(3)
Deer	161	(3)
Devil	164	(6)
Dogs	170	(3)
Earth, Agricultural, and Hunting Deities	173	(7)
Feathered Serpents	180	(3)
Fifth Sun	183	(1)
God L	184	(1)
Guadalupe, Virgin of	185	(5)
Gukumatz	190	(1)
Hero Twins (Hunahpu and Xbalanque)	191	(2)
Huitzilopochtli	193	(2)
Hunab Ku	195	(1)
Itzamna	196	(2)
Ix Chel	198	(2)
Jurakan	200	(1)
Kinich Ahau	200	(1)
Kukulcan	201	(1)
La Llorona	202	(2)
Malinche	204	(3)
Moon	207	(4)
Motecuhzoma I (Ilhuicamina), Lord	211	(2)
Motecuhzoma II (Xocoyotzin), Lord	213	(2)
Nahual (Nagual)	215	(2)
1-Death (Hun Came) and 7-Death (Vucub Came)	217	(1)
Opossums	218	(3)
Pacal	221	(2)
Quetzalcoatl	223	(5)
Rain and Water Deities	228	(4)
Saints	232	(6)
Sky Deities and Beings	238	(8)
Sun	246	(4)
Tezcatlipoca	250	(4)
Tizoc, Lord	254	(1)
Tlacaellel	255	(1)
Tlaloc and the Tlaloques	256	(2)
Underworld and Caves, Deities of the	258	(7)
Yum Kaax (Diving God)	265	(2)
Annotated Print and Nonprint Resources	267	(18)
Books and Articles	267	(7)
Videos	274	(4)
Pre-Conquest Mexican and Mayan	274	(2)
Post-Conquest-Contemporary Mexico	276	(1)
Contemporary Central America	277	(1)
Web Sites	278	(7)
General Mesoamerica	278	(2)
Maya	280	(3)
Ancient and Contemporary Mexico	283	(2)
Reference List	285	(18)
Glossary	303	(12)
Index	315	(22)
About the Authors	337