Maya Hero Twins
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The Hero Twins feature prominently in [[Maya mythology], with the 16th-century Popol Vuh and ancient Maya ceramics as its main sources.
According to the Popol Vuh, the Hero Twins were Xbalanque and Hun-Ahpu. Together with their father, Hun-Hunahpu, they were ball-players. Following his defeat in the ballgame, the father was killed by the lords of Xibalba, and his skull was hung in a tree. When the daughter of one of the lords of Xibalba, Xquic, approached the tree, the skull talked with her, and then spat into her hand. In this way she became pregnant with the Hero Twins. The Twins grew up to avenge their father, and after many trials, finally defeated the lords of the Underworld in the ballgame.
The Popol Vuh features other episodes involving the Twins as well. These include the liquidation of a proud avian deity, Vucub-Caquix, and of his two demonical sons, and also the struggle with their half-brothers, the howler monkey deities Hun-Chowen and Hun-Batz, who were the patrons of artists and scribes.
The other main source for Hero Twin mythology is much earlier and consists of representations found on Maya ceramics until about 900 A.D. Clearly recognizable are the figures of Hunahpu, Xbalanque, and the howler monkey scribes and sculptors. Certain scenes are suggestive of Popol Vuh episodes. The Twins' shooting of a steeply descending bird (the 'Primary Bird Deity') with blowguns has been taken to represent the defeat of Vucub-Caquix. Another identification involves an hypothetical extension of the Popol Vuh narrative: A maize deity rising from the carapace of a turtle and held by the Hero Twins is believed to visualize the resurrection of the Twins' father, Hun-Hunahpu.
Dennis Tedlock has noted that in the aboveworld scenes of the Popol Vuj, Hunajpu takes the dominant role, whereas in the underworld-related scenes, Xbalamke is the leader.
Suggested readings: Karl Taube, Aztec and Maya Myths; Dennis Tedlock, The Popol Vuh
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