A pair of great culture heroes of the Maya, Hunahpu and Xbalanque were twins conceived when their father, One Hunahpu, had his head cut off and placed in a tree by the Lords of the underworld, Xibalba. The daughter of one of the lords, Xquic, came upon One Hunahpu’s skull and was bid to come closer, until it spat into her outstretched hand, impregnating her. She was cast out because of the illegitimate pregnancy, but convinced the servants ordered to sacrifice her to instead trick the Lords of Xibalba, letting her escape to the house of One Hunahpu’s mother, Xmucane. Xmucane eventually accepted Xquic’s story and raised the Twins along with their half-brothers, One Artisan and One Howler Monkey. The preexisting twins jealously tried to kill Hunahpu and Xbalanque, but were consistently foiled until the pair transformed them into the Howler Monkey Gods, and they fled in shame. The god Huracan asked the Twins to defeat Seven Macaw, a vain god who claimed to be both the sun and the moon. They did so with guile, replacing his gilded teeth with corn, though not before he tore off one of Hunahpu’s arms. Arm reattached, Hunahpu and his brother then gave similar treatments to Seven Macaw’s sons, Zipacna and Cabrakan, who claimed to create and destroy mountains. The Twins bested both of them ironically using mountains; Zipacna was lured into a ravine and trapped beneath a mountain, while Cabrakan was fooled into chasing a nonexistent mountain and then poisoned. Following these exploits, the Twins found the gear that One Hunahpu and his own brother, Seven Hunahpu, had used to play the Mesoamerican ball game known to the Maya as pitz. The pair showed exceptional skill at the game and relished in it, the noise of their playing disturbing the Lords of Xibalba as their father and uncle had done. They are invited to play in the underworld against One Death and Seven Death, the highest Lords of Xibalba, where the lords attempt to kill them multiple times before even beginning the game, with a bladed ball and a bench designed to cook them. Their failed assassination attempts spotted, One Death and Seven Death are forced to play against the Twins in order to keep them in Xibalba. The Twins throw the game in order to enter the Dark House, the first trial of Xibalba, which the lords of death had used to humiliate One Hunahpu. After easily passing the Dark House, another game is played and thrown, leading the Twins to the second trial, Razor House. This continues, and the Twins pass through Cold House, Jaguar House, and Fire House without incident. In the final trial, Bat House, the Twins stuffed themselves inside of their blowguns to evade the bat god Camazotz, but Hunahpu peered out to see if the sun had yet risen, and Camazotz decapitated him, taking the head back to the Lords of Xibalba to be prepared as a ball. Xbalanque alone played against One Death and Seven Death until he was able to recover the “ball” and reattach it to his brother, after which they continued playing together by using a gourd as the ball, and won. Embarrassed, the lords tried to trick the Twins into an oven. Seeing through this ruse as well, they allowed themselves to be cooked and crushed into dust, which was then scattered into a river. They reformed as catfish, which then took the shape of young boys, who gained fame by performing miracles and dancing. The Lords of Xibalba called the two for another audience, ignorant as to their identities, and they did entertain the lords; this performance culminated in the ritual sacrifice and subsequent revival of Hunahpu. Amazed, One Death and Seven Death demanded to also be killed and revived, but, having killed them, Hunahpu refused to bring them back. The Twins revealed their identities, brought their father back to life as a maize deity, and revoked Xibalba’s rights to worship, before ascending into the sky as the sun and moon.
Originally Posted by RoydGolden
