The Hero Twins
Hunahpu and Xbalanque who defeated the lords of death and became the sun and moon.
The Hero Twins, born of a miraculous conception, were great ballplayers who angered the Death Lords. Summoned to Xibalba, they used cunning to overcome every trial, finally defeating death itself. They rose to become the sun and moon, illuminating the world.
They did not die from the trials of Xibalba, nor were they defeated by all the Death Lords.
The Hero Twins exemplify Mayan ideals of wisdom overcoming brute force.
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- What Maya wisdom says about good and evil
Summoned by the Death Lords, the twins beat every trial by cunning and rise to become the sun and moon. Death is outwitted in this story rather than annihilated.
- What the Maya tradition says about starting again after a fall
Hunahpu and Xbalanque were summoned down to the land of death, not tempted there; the fall is not framed as their error. They beat the Death Lords by cunning rather than strength, and came out as the sun and moon.