The Maya Hero Twins are the central figures of a narrative included within the colonial K’iche’ document called Popol Vuh, and constituting the oldest Maya myth to have been preserved in its entirety. Called Hunahpu and Xbalanque in the K’iche’ language, the Twins have also been identified in the art of the Classic Mayas (200-900 AD). The Twin motif recurs in many native American mythologies; the Maya Twins in particular could be considered as mythical ancestors to the Maya ruling lineages.
Read more about Maya Hero Twins: The Twins in Word and Image, Twin Myth Summary, Hero Twins in Other Native American Cultures
Famous quotes containing the words hero and/or twins:
“Here is a hero who did nothing but shake the tree as soon as the fruit was ripe. Does this seem to be too small a thing to you? Then take a good look at the tree he shook.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Sisters we are, yea, twins we be,
Yet deadly feud ‘twixt thee and me;
For from one father are we not,
Thou by old Adam wast begot,
But my arise is from above,”
—Anne Bradstreet (c. 1612–1672)