Mayan And Aztec Comparison Essay

The first similarity between the Aztec and the Maya was their emphasis on time. We find evidence of the emphasis on time in the origin story of the Aztec and Maya. In the Nahua myth where “age is self-destructing based on a cosmic mathematical plan; the Mexica magicians will return to the place of their origin in Aztlan, only to find out about their own future demise” (114, Read & Gonzalez). Meanwhile, the Popol-Vuh tells the story of Hunahpu Posum and Hanahpu Coyote, the Maya twin heroes play the role of day keepers even though they were not born until the following age. In both origin stories, one can observe that time is a factor that occurs in an odd manner, it works in a “linear [matter] but it also doubles back on itself and springs
Self-sacrifice is prominent in the origin stories, of the Aztec and the Maya that help shape and understand their cosmology. In the Aztec civilization, there are depictions of Nanahuatzin and Tecuciztecatl. Nanahuatzin throws himself into the flames, which leads him to become the sun god meanwhile Tecuciztecatl was more hesitant about sacrificing himself; nevertheless, he followed his brother’s step and became the moon god. Identically the Maya origin story depicts Hunahpu Posum and Hanahpu Coyote as hero twins who submit themselves through tortures obstacles in the underworld “but gained the knowledge of self-transformation to overcome the threatened final static condition of death. Instead, they learned the secrets of self-sacrifice and regeneration and ascended into the celestial levels” (144, Carrasco). Together with the origin stories, of the Aztec and the Maya the idea and practice of self-sacrifice illustrate death and birth. Death and rebirth were a prominent theme in the origin story because they were accepted patterns of destiny (140, Carrasco). These patterns of destiny became part of their religion because it served as a pattern that contributed to the renewal of their