Telling the Story of the Maya

The final story of the Popol Vuh is titled "The Three Great Stewards as Mothers of the Word".  The three Great Stewards "are like the fathers of all the Quiche lords" (Christensen 305).  "THESE are: The Great Steward before the Cavecs; before the Nijaibs is the second Great Steward; and before the Ahau Quiches is the third Great Steward.  Thus there are three stewards, one before each of the lineages" (Christensen 305).  These stewards are an important part of Maya history and are ancient cultural figures.

Church at Chichicastenango where the Popol Vuh came to light

The hero twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque died together.  "Then they turned to face one another, spread out their arms and together they went into the pit oven" (Christensen 179).  "Thus both of them died there" (Christensen 179).  Then their bones were ground up and spread across the river.

A depiction of the hero twins

The actions of the Hero twins were remembered forever by the Mayan people.  The Maya considered the twins to be their fathers in fact.  "We shall also declare the names of our fathers to you.  We are they whose names are Hunahpu and Xblanque" (Christensen 187).  The history of the hero twins explains the origins of the Maya people.

Works Cited

“Hunahpu's.” Cigar City Brewing, www.cigarcitybrewing.com/beer/hunahpus/.

“Maya Hero Twins.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Feb. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Hero_Twins.