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Article: Mayan Mythology
- Article from:
- Myths and Legends of the World
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Macmillan Reference, USA. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Mayan Mythology
The Mayan civilization flourished in
Mesoamerica
from around 300 b.c. until the Spanish conquest of the early a.d. 1500S. The mythology of the Maya had many elements in common with those of other civilizations of the region. But the Maya developed their own variation of the Mesoamerican
pantheon
of gods and goddesses, the stories about them, and the image of the universe and the place of humans in it.
In Mayan mythology, the gods and heroes had many different names and appearances, stories occurred in varying forms, and scenes and figures changed and shifted with confusing rapidity. Beneath this seeming confusion, though, lay a sense that the universe was an ...