Aztec and Maya Myths (The Legendary Past)

Karl Taube

ISBN 10: 029278130X / ISBN 13: 9780292781306

Published by University of Texas Press, Austin, TX, 1997

About this Item

University of Texas Press, Austin, TX. 1997. Softcover/Trade Wraps. Stated 3rd Printing. Book is tight, square, and unmarked. Book Condition: Fine. No DJ. Pictorial card stock wraps. Wraps are not bent or folded; spine is not creased or split; text is secure in binding. 80 pp 8vo. The myths of the ancient Aztec and Maya derive from a shared Mesoamerican cultural tradition which is still alive in the lore of contemporary Mexico and Central America. Knowledge of the mythology comes from 16th century colonial documents, hieroglyphic writing, and the interpretation of codices. The author recounts a wealth of major stories from the origins of life to the defeat of the gods of death. A clean pristine copy.

Seller Inventory # 011723

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Aztec and Maya Myths (The Legendary Past)
• Publisher: University of Texas Press, Austin, TX
• Publication Date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 029278130X
• ISBN 13: 9780292781306
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 3rd Printing
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Seller catalogs:
  • Indian Wars/American Indian Matters
  • The Ancient World
  • Latin America

About this title

Synopsis

The myths of the Aztec and Maya derive from a shared Mesoamerican cultural tradition. This is very much a living tradition, and many of the motifs and gods mentioned in early sources are still evoked in the lore of contemporary Mexico and Guatemala.

Professor Taube discusses the different sources for Aztec and Maya myths. The Aztec empire began less than 200 years before the Spanish conquest, and our knowledge of their mythology derives primarily from native colonial documents and manuscripts commissioned by the Spanish. The Maya mythology is far older, and our knowledge of it comes mainly from native manuscripts of the Classic period, over 600 years before the Spanish conquest.

Drawing on these sources as well as nineteenth- and twentieth-century excavations and research, including the interpretation of the codices and the decipherment of Maya hieroglyphic writing, the author discusses, among other things, the Popol Vuh myths of the Maya, the flood myth of Northern Yucatan, and the Aztec creation myths.

About the Author

Karl Taube is aProfessor of Anthropology at the University of California at Riverside.