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:
“Around the hero everything turns into a tragedy, around the demigod, a satyr-play, and around God—what? perhaps a “world”?”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“What strikes many twin researchers now is not how much identical twins are alike, but rather how different they are, given the same genetic makeup....Multiples don’t walk around in lockstep, talking in unison, thinking identical thoughts. The bond for normal twins, whether they are identical or fraternal, is based on how they, as individuals who are keenly aware of the differences between them, learn to relate to one another.”
—Pamela Patrick Novotny (20th century)