The Popol Vuh Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Popol Vuh - Essay Example They have cut a tree for certain structural additions in the hut. Zipacna met the four hundred boys and offered to take the log to their hut all by himself, straightaway to the mountain-top. The boys were alarmed at his physical strength and instead of expressing gratitude, hatched a conspiracy to kill him. They were so jealous of his physical prowess. They decided to dig a hole and throw him there. After digging up to some depth, the boys requested him to go down on the plea that they were unable to dig further to remove the dirt. He responded to their request and went deep, but realized that he would be killed and he dug another hole beside, for his safety. When the hole was deep enough, they engaged him in some futile conversation and at the appropriate time, the boys pushed the wooden log into the hole and believed that it was the end of Zipacna. As soon as the boys saw the ants swarming over the hole, they thought ants were enjoying the meal of the decayed flesh of Zipacna. Zipa cna outsmarted them in that area also, and misled them. He â€Å"cut the hair of his head and chews off his nails† (Orozco n. p.) to feed the ants. ... behavior of Zipacna of helping the four hundred boys is repaid by improper behavior by the four hundred boys, by hatching a plan to kill him, and how this time, Zipacna repays them in the same coin by pulling down their hut to finish them all. The boys suffer for the evil deed and paid with their lives and died an inglorious death. On the first reading, this story does not seem to possess any hidden meaning. However when properly decoded and the true interpretation is made, one can come to the conclusion â€Å" that the ancient Maya were able to derive an orbital period value for the Earth tropical year to an extreme level of accuracy, and also a value for the time cycle that captures recurring synodic conjunctions between the Earth and Mercury.† (Orozco n. p.)They explained the harmony in the calendar system. The story is a metaphor of how to track successive Earth-Mercury conjunctions. The mention of four hundred boys is a significant number. Zipacna represents one solar yea r. Four hundred boys represent four hundred days. Their waiting period above the ground to put the pole into the shaft indicates a four hundred day correction. So, one should approach the mythological stories of the Mayans with the knowledge that they are based on scientific truth, and the results obtained are mathematically correct. The details in the Popol Vuh story have a distinct astronomical accuracy and the mysticism articulated in the story is verifiable though scientific calculations. The leap years come in calculations once in 4 years. It has the impact on the tropical year of Planet Earth and will have repercussions on its accurate value about its duration; therefore corrections of one day to the formula governing the leap year once in 128 years are necessary. The accuracy of the