The Hero Twins Myth of Maya Civilization

Two of the most well-known figures from Maya mythology are The Hero Twins. One of the few remaining Maya scriptures, known as the Popol Vuh, tells their story.

The Maya Hero Twins’ tale is summarised as follows:

The Story: Father and Uncle

Two twin boys are the first characters in the Hero Twins’ tale. One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu are their names. The Maya ball game was a favourite among these two lads. They had great potential, but when they played, they made a lot of noise. The Lords of Death, the underworld’s gods, grew angry with the lads and called them to the underworld. The Maya term for hell was Xibalba.

The Lords of Death put the boys through a number of tests when they visited the underworld. They had to first cross bloody and spiked rivers. The gods were then to be greeted by name. The gods they greeted, though, were merely wooden carvings. They had failed the test by failing to acknowledge the gods. The gods then instructed them to take a seat. They were scorched by a burning bench when they sat down. They’d failed yet another exam. The gods executed them because they failed the tests.

The birth of The Hero Twins

The legend holds that One Hunahpu had a kid with a Maya deity even though he was dead. The Hero Twins, who belonged to this goddess, were her twins. They were referred to as Hunahpu and Xbalanque.

The Hero Twins were outstanding baseball players, much like their father and uncle. They irritated the underworld gods because they were also noisy. They were soon invited to join a game of ball in the underworld by the Lords of Death.

A journey to the underworld

To meet the Lords of Death, the Hero Twins journeyed to the underworld. The Hero Twins, however, had taken note of their father’s errors. They weren’t duped by any of the gods’ ruses. The tests the gods put them through were all passed by them.

They utilised a mosquito to bite the gods when they tried to fool them with wooden gods. By seeing how each god responded, they could determine which was real and which was made of wood. Additionally, they declined to sit on the scorching bench.

Playing a Ball Game

The boys were required to play a game of ball against the gods after passing the examinations. Once more, the gods employed a ball with cutting edges to deceive the lads. But the boys weren’t having any of it. They noticed the blades and warned the gods that they wouldn’t play fair if they didn’t reciprocate.

The gods consented to fair play. The youths were aware that if they were victorious, the gods would murder them. So they conceded defeat and let the gods triumph. The gods continued to challenge the players with rooms filled with blades, ice, and fire after each round.

The Hero Twins are Killed

Finally, the boys defeated the Lords of Death in a game of ball. Lords were indignant. The guys consented when they were instructed to jump into an oven. The gods slaughtered the youths and scattered their remains in the river. All of this was a part of the Hero Twins’ covert scheme. The boys came back to life as catfish when their ashes were absorbed by the river. Later, as the Hero Twins, they were totally resurrected.

They Win in the End

The Hero Twins now possessed numerous divine abilities. They had the power to resurrect creatures after they had been killed. The youngsters’ abilities impressed the Lords of Death. They requested that the boys play the trick on them. They slew the Lords of Death with their greatest trick yet and prevented their reanimation. The Hero Twins had triumphed!

A Few Interesting Maya Hero Twins Facts

Many other Native American nations have mythologies that have characters that are quite similar to the Hero Twins.

The sky gods appointed the Hero Twins as the rulers of Earth. The Moon and the Sun were split into two identical twins.

The Hero Twins revived their deceased father and transformed him into the Maize God.

The Hero Twins, according to legend, were the ancestors of the Maya kings. They were now able to reign as a result.

Many Maya vases have scenes from the Hero Twins’ tales painted or engraved on them.