Question

Explain the three different "versions" of man that are created and why the first two versions were not acceptable to the gods.

Answer 1

There are three different versions of the creation of man according to the Maya: men built from mud, wood, and maize. The first two options weren't acceptable to the gods because they couldn't worship their creators. For this reason, they decided to destroy those versions because they were incapable of giving the necessary praise to the gods who created them.

The first version of man was made from mud. They weren't productive, couldn't think (have rational thinking) and move. Also, they weren't mortals. The gods destroyed this first version of people with water.

The second version was made of wood. In this case, the gods made women from reeds and men from wood. They were better than the mud version because they behaved like humans, but didn't have souls and didn't worship the gods. They were immortals, so their destruction was made from an inundation of boiling hot water.

The third version was made from maize. Humans were made of the blood of the gods as well as white and yellow maze dough. It was the most similar to who we are today.

Answer 2

Here is a more simplified version.

The gods were creating humans to worship them. The first version was made of mud. The mud version could not turn it's head, it did not speak with understanding, it was very easy to crumble, and it did not have a soul to worship the gods. The second version was made of wood. The wood version was an improvement because it could speak, turn its head, it was also strong, but it also did not have a soul to worship. So the gods demolished them with a flood. The last version is made of maize/corn. These humans were so perfect that the gods were afraid that they would become powerful beings. So the gods put a fog or heavy cloud on the humans' eyes so the gods were finally happy with their creation.