The Hero Twins are famous Mayan semi-gods called Hunahpu and Xbalanque whose story is narrated in the Popol Vuh, “The Book of Council”. The Popul Vuh is the sacred text of the Quiché Maya of the Guatemalan Highlands, and dates to the Early Colonial period.
The names of the Hero Twins have been translated as X-Balan-Que “Jaguar-Sun”, or “Jaguar-Deer”, and Hunah-Pu, as “One Blowgunner”.
Myth of the Hero Twins
According to the Maya myth, Hunahpu and Xbalanque were the sons of Hun Hunahpu and Xquic, a goddess or maiden of the lords of the Maya underworld. They were born from Xquic as she was impregnated by the severed head of Hun Hunahpu, hanging from a gourd tree.
Hun Hunahpu and his twin brother Vucub Hunahpu had been defeated at the ball game by the lords of Xibalba, the Maya underworld, and sacrificed. Hunahpuh and Xbalanque, as it is narrated in the Popol Vuh, managed to defeat the underworld lord and revive their father.
In the Popol Vuh myth, before revenging their fates, the two brothers have to kill a bird-demon, who raised himself as false sun and moon, called Vucub-Caquix. This episode is apparently portrayed in a stela at the early site of Izapa, in Chiapas. Here a couple of young men are portrayed shooting a bird-monster descending from a tree with their blowgun. This image is very similar to the one narrated in the Popol Vuh.
Dating the Hero Twins
Although the Popol Vuh dates to the Colonial period, the Hero Twins have been identified on painted vessels, monuments, and cave walls dating to the Classic and Preclassic period. They are recognized by Hunahpu, who is always illustrated with black spots on his right cheek, shoulder and arm; and Xbalanque, who has patches of jaguar skin on his face and body.
The names of the Hero Twins are also present in the Maya calendar as day signs. This further indicates the importance and antiquity of the myth of the Hero Twins, whose origins date back to the earliest period of Maya history.
Sources
This glossary entry is a part of the About.com guide to Maya Civilization, and the Dictionary of Archaeology.
Miller, Mary and Karl Taube, 1997, An Illustrated Dictionary of The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya, Thames and Hudson.
Sharer, Robert J., 2006, The Ancient Maya. Sixth Edition. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.