5-Week SASA Continuing Education Reading Group : Pakal’s Legacy- The Boy King of Palenque and His Mythical Narratives

In July of 615 CE, a twelve-year-old boy named K’inich Janaab Pakal took the throne of the ancient Maya site of Palenque. He was faced with the impossible task of saving the city from ruin-- and over his nearly 70-year rule, he not only brought Palenque back from the brink, but transformed it into one of the most important Maya centers of art, culture, and power.

Over the course of five weeks, this reading group will examine the narratives, both mythical and historical, of Pakal’s life, as told by Pakal himself and by his descendants. We will examine how later rulers of Palenque chose to fashion themselves after Pakal or distinguish themselves from him, and how they used mythology to justify those decisions. Participants will read translations and analyses of hieroglyphic texts and examine the visual narratives built into the architecture of the site. Discussions will center around the rhetoric…