92 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 
struggle with the powers for evil and most of the benev- 
olent divinities have malevolent duplicates. In actual 
form the gods are partly human, but ordinarily the 
Fig. 35. The Two-Headed Dragon, a Monster that passes 
through many Forms in Mayan Sculpture. Copan. 
determining features are grotesque variations from 
the human face and figure. While beast associations 
are sometimes discernible, they are rarely controlling. 
Sometimes, however, beast gods are represented in 
unmistakable fashion, good examples being the jaguar, 
the bat, and the moan bird. All of these have human 
bodies and animal heads. 
The head position in the Mayan pantheon may with 
some assurance be given to a god who has been called 
the Roman-nosed god and who Is probably to be identi- 
fied with Itzamna. According to Spanish writers 
Itzamna was regarded by the Mayas as the creator and 
father of all, the inventor of writing, the founder of the 
Mayan civilization, and the god of light and life. The 
Zeus of the Mayas is represented in the form of an old 
man with a high forehead, a strongly aquiline nose, and 
a distended mouth that is usually devoid of teeth. On 
the ancient monuments he is frequently seen in the 
mouths of the Ceremonial Bar and also in association 
with the sun, moon, and the planet Venus. In the 
codices he is shown as a protector of the Maize God and 
in other acts beneficial to man. ‘There is, however, a 
