Mayan Myth Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sacred text

Written in the sixteenth century, the "Popol Vuh" is a narrative that recounts the history and the mythology of the Quiche (also recorded as K'iche') peoples, Mayas that inhabited the areas around Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, El Salvador and the areas of Mexico encompassed by the states of Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo.

Apart from their natural history the "Popol Vuh" details the creation of the world and the issues that the gods had in creating human beings - they stumbled on maize after their efforts with mud and wood failed. It also chronicles the lives of their hero twins Hunahpu and Xbalanque, two important cultural figures of the Maya.

What could be seen as an equivalent of the Yucatan Maya was the "Chilam Balam" (Secrets of the Soothsayers), which was written during the 1600s.

Answer: Place of fright

There are variations in respect to the underworld and its locations within Mayan mythology and it appears that it will differentiate between regions. For example, the Quiche Maya call their underworld Metnal (or Mitnal) and the realm is ruled by Ah Puch. The Yucatec believe the underworld is Xilbalba, that it sits in a chamber below the earth and is overseen by twelve lords. Ah Puch is one of those lords.

In Xilbalba, two lords (gods) sit at the helm of this hierarchy; Hun-Came, also known as the One Death and Vucub-Came, known as the Seven Death. Hun-Came, however, holds a higher status among these two. The other ten lords/gods are often described as demons and they hold dominion over some form of human suffering and they are charged with inflicting these. When they do, they do so as a duo. For example, Chamiabac, also known as Bone Staff, will work with Chamiaholom, Skull Staff, to turn dead bodies into skeletons. The Sweeping and the Stabbing Demons will hide in the dusty regions of a home and emerge to stab the people inside to death... a good reason to ensure that the floors are constantly swept. Little wonder it was known as the place of fright.

Answer: Itzamna

I find it ironic that the god seen as the most powerful of the Mayan gods should be portrayed as a toothless old man and, to add to that picture, he reportedly had a hooked nose as well. He was also identified as the god that made night and day and seen as the ruler of the heavens. He blessed humans with his healing powers and gave them the gift of writing.

His wife was Ixchel, another powerful god, was depicted as an old woman. Also known as Lady Rainbow, she was the goddess of midwives, pregnancy and fertility and was seen as a protector of weavers.

Answer: The weeping warrior

The sobriquet of the "weeping warrior" stemmed from the fact that the Mayans saw Chac (sometimes recorded as Chaac) as the rain god and that it was his tears that were precipitating upon the earth. They saw his tears as a boon to the farmers and that this allowed them to grow food.

As food was essential for life, Chac was deemed sacred and was anointed as the god of agriculture. In other circles it is told that he was responsible for introducing maize (corn) to the Mayans by opening up a stone in which its seed had been hidden.

Answer: Puahtun

Puahtun (or Pawahtuun) is what is called a quadripartite entity. this means that he is seen as a single man, but he has four aspects. Each of those aspects is called a bacab, and each bacab supports one of the four corners of the sky. In this he is called the "Charger of the Cosmos". All of this belies his depiction of being a toothless old drunk.

He is also the patron of artists and authors and has the unenviable task of presiding over the five disastrous days of the calendar. Quick recall for you: the Haab or Vague Year for the Mayans equates to 365 days, similar to our Gregorian calendar. However, the Mayan calendar consisted of 18 months, each of 20 days (360 total), which left five days out of this loop. Those five days were considered unlucky.

Puahtun's turtle shell, that he wears on his back, is a celebrated symbol of the Maya as this is where the sun and the moon took shelter just before the world was destroyed.

(Footnote) A "tun", which is at the end of Puahtun, is a large beer or wine cask.

Answer: Kinich Ahau

As the sun god, Kinich Ahau took a number of guises. During the day he would traverse the sky disguised as either a young man or one of the elderly (with his large nose). However, during the night he would patrol the underworld. On these occasions he would change into the form of the jaguar god.

This was important to the Mayans as the jaguar was a feared cat and one that was admired for its power. It is little wonder then that the jaguar god represented power. He also represented kinship and the vitality of the earth. Priests seized on this and would dress in jaguar skins as a means of bringing the same symbolism to their rites and ceremonies.

Answer: A walking skeleton

Ah Puch is an interesting god. Known as the god of death, he was also said to be the ruler of darkness and disaster. As those tend to go hand in hand with death it is easy to understand but, he was also revered as the god of childbirth and beginnings.

Whether or not he is the ruler of the underworld becomes debatable. The Quiche (K'iche') Maya believed that he was and their underworld was known as Metnal (or Mitnal). The Yucatec Maya called their underworld Xilbalba, and here, Ah Puch was just one of the twelve lords that ruled the realm, and not the main one at that.

He was often depicted as skeletal but there are also depictions of him in a bloated form, indicating that he was in an advanced state of decomposition. He was also associated with owls and was said to wear bells.

Answer: Blood

Tohil was a very busy god. A fire deity, he was the god of the sun and, as a counter, also the god of the rain. To his resume, he also added god of war, sacrifice and sustenance as well as a strong association with mountains.

The "Popol Vuh", the sacred text of the Quiche Maya, indicates that the first people of the Quiche assembled, with others, at the Place of the Seven Caves, to receive their gods and their language. They were delivered Tohil who, in exchange for his patronage, wanted blood. They gave him their blood and, when that didn't satisfy Tohil, they provided him with the blood of their captives.

The Spanish would arrive in the 1520s during their conquest of the Americas and seeing the sacrifices and blood offerings to Tohil, their clergy made it a priority to have the deity the first on their list to stamp out.

Answer: Bird

The "Popol Vuh" describes him as a giant bird whose name means Seven Macaw. Other literature indicates that he was a monstrous bird, not unlike a vulture, that had giant snakes for wings. All, however, carry similar stories about him.

Extremely vain, he declared that he was not only the sun and moon, but also the lord of everything. "I am great. My place is now higher than that of the human work, the human design. I am their sun and I am their light, and I am also their months."

The hero twins of Mayan lore, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, were not impressed by his rantings and decided to put an end to him. They lay in ambush beneath his favourite nantze tree and shot him with their blow guns when he sat in it to eat. Vucub Caqix fell to the earth and broke his jaw. The twins rushed in to finish him, but he arose and tore the arm off Hunahpu. The twins retreated. They sought the help of an old man and woman who posed as healers and went to the monster's home offering succor. They convinced Vucub Caqix that they could fix him, and he allowed them. Instead, they stole his teeth and replaced them with maize. They also stole his eyes and, in doing so the monster lost his power and died.

Answer: Sun and moon

Hun Hunahpu (the father) and Vucub Hunahpu (the uncle) were drawn into Xilbalba, the Mayan underworld, where they were defeated and sacrificed by Hun-Came (the One Death) and Vucub-Came (the Seven Death). Hun Hunahpu's head was cut off and placed in a tree. The head managed to speak to Blood Moon, the daughter of one of the lords of the underworld, when she walked past. During that moment he also managed to impregnate her with his spit.

Blood Moon tells her father. Her father informs the One Death and the Seven Death who demand to know who the father is. When Blood Moon refuses to give the information they order the owls to kill her and bring back her heart as proof. Blood Moon confides the true story to the owls who take pity on her and guide her out of the underworld. They then create a fake heart, made out of red tree sap, and bring that back to the lords.

Blood Moon ventures out to see Xpiyacoc, the mother of Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu. Xpiyacoc puts Blood Moon through a trial because, at first, she does not believe her story. Once convinced she cares for Blood Moon who will eventually deliver her grandsons, the Hero Twins.

Hunaphu and Xbalanque, grow to be handsome young men. Both are born with god markings; Hunaphu has large black spots on his body and cheeks and his face is the glyph for the day known as Ahau, which means King. Xbalanque was born with jaguar skin, which is linked to dynastic power, on his body, arms, legs and around his mouth. They also wear red and white headbands that signify leadership.

The pair venture into the underworld to avenge their father and do so by surviving numerous trials and then defeating the lords in a ballgame. They will go on to have a number of adventures and their ascension to become the sun and the moon becomes the dawn of a new age for the Maya.