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Concept
Maya Hero Twins
Summary
The Maya Hero Twins are the central figures of a narrative included within the colonial Kʼicheʼ document called Popol Vuh, and constituting the oldest Maya myth to have been preserved in its entirety. Called Hunahpu hunaxˈpu and Xbalanque ʃɓalaŋˈke in the Kʼicheʼ language, the Twins have also been identified in the art of the Classic Mayas (200–900 AD). The twins are often portrayed as complementary forces.
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.
After being invited to Xibalba by One-Death and Seven-Death, the Lords of the Underworld, to a game of Pok Ta Pok, a Mayan Ballgame, Hun Hunahpu (lit. One-Hunahpu) and Vucub Hunahpu (lit. Seven-Hunahpu) were defeated and executed as a result. Hun-Hunahpu's head was put in a tree. When Blood Moon, the daughter of Blood Gatherer, one of the Lords of the Underworld, passes by the tree, he speaks to her and impregnates her with his spittle. Her father finds out that she is pregnant and convenes with One-Death and Seven-Death. They decide that if Blood Moon is not willing to tell them who the father is, she should be killed. Blood Moon truthfully answers that she has not slept with anyone, which is taken as a lie because she is visibly pregnant. Thus, they order their Owl Messengers to kill her and bring back her heart as proof. She tells the owls the truth and they agree to spare her. They create a faux heart out of red tree sap which they bring back to the Lords of the Underworld. The owls then show her the way to the world above. Here she goes to the house of Xpiyacoc, the mother of Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu, who lives with One-Monkey and One-Artisan, the first born children of Hun Hunahpu which he conceived with Egret Woman. Blood Moon tells Xpiyacoc she is pregnant with her grandchildren. Xpiyacoc at first does not believe her and orders her - as a trial - to pick a big netful of corn ears from the garden of One-Monkey and One-Artisan.
Official source
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