creation

the hero

Monsters
Herakles
Theseus
Perseus
The Trojan War and Achilles
After Troy
The Foundations of Rome
Krishna
The Arthurian Legend
Sigurd and Beowulf


goddesses

gods

tricksters

afterlife

love

Gods of the Maya

The Maya believed in a succession of previos worlds before the creation of the present universe. Lengthy debates took place among the gods concerning the right material for human flesh. The first people were made of eath, but were destroyed because they were mindless. The next race was of wood, and these people too were destroyed. This time because they lacked souls and were ungrateful toward their creators.

The last race, the Maya's ancestors were made of white and yellow maize blended together. Because these maize people had divine understanding, the gods decided to "chip their eyes": this ensured