Twins appear in the mythologies of many cultures around the world. In some cultures they are seen as ominous, and in others they are seen as auspicious. Twins in mythology are often cast as two halves of the same whole, sharing a bond deeper than that of ordinary siblings, or seen as fierce rivals. They can be seen as representations of a dualistic worldview. They can represent another aspect of the self, a doppelgänger, or a shadow.
A pair of early 20th-century female ere ibeji twin figures (Children’s Museum of Indianapolis)
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 and Xbalanque in the Kʼicheʼ language, the Twins have also been identified in the art of the Classic Mayas. The twins are often portrayed as complementary forces.
Two lively were-jaguar babies on the left side of La Venta Altar 5. The two were-jaguars depicted on Altar 5 at La Venta as being carried out from a niche or cave, places often associated with the emergence of human beings, may or may not be mythic hero twins essential to Olmec mythology and perhaps, or perhaps not, forerunners of the Maya Hero Twins.
The Hero Twins shooting a perched bird demon with a blowgun. Izapa Stela 25.
The Hero Twins and steeply descending bird impersonator, Izapa Stela 2.
Mississippian Hero Twins emerging from a crack in the back of a raccoon-faced Horned Serpent. Redrawn from an engraved whelk shell by artist Herb Roe.
