Hunahpu and Xbalanque (the Hero Twins)
Maya twin heroes who defeated the lords of the underworld Xibalba
- Known from
- Popol Vuh (K'iche' Maya, c. 1550s); Classic Maya art
- Father
- Hun Hunahpu
- Mother
- Xquic, daughter of a lord of Xibalba
- Rivals
- Seven Macaw; the lords of Xibalba
- Fate
- Rise into the sky as the sun and the moon
The ballplaying twins of the Popol Vuh who outwit the lords of the underworld Xibalba and rise into the sky as the sun and moon.
What are Hunahpu and Xbalanque known for?
Hunahpu and Xbalanque are the twin heroes of the Popol Vuh, the K'iche' Maya book of creation. Their father, Hun Hunahpu, is killed by the lords of Xibalba, the underworld, after losing a ballgame; his severed head, hung in a tree, impregnates Xquic, a daughter of one of the lords, who flees to the upper world and bears the twins.
The twins defeat the boastful bird Seven Macaw and his sons, then are summoned to Xibalba. They survive a series of deadly houses (of darkness, razors, cold, jaguars, fire and bats), win the ballgame even after Hunahpu is beheaded, and finally trick the lords into being sacrificed. Afterward they rise into the sky as the sun and the moon.
Twin heroes resembling them appear in Classic Maya art centuries before the Popol Vuh was written down, where scholars identify them as Hun Ajaw and Yax Balam. The Popol Vuh survives only in Francisco Ximénez's copy of around 1701.
Their adventure fills the gap between the failed creations in the site's Popol Vuh entry.
Mentioned on these pages
Sources
- Newberry Library, 'Popol Vuh' research guidePrimary text
- Wikipedia, 'Maya Hero Twins'Reference
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