Hun-Hunahpu

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According to the Popol Vuh, Hun-Hunahpu is the father of the Hero Twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, and of their half-brethren, the patrons of the artisans and writers, Hun-Chowen and Hun-Batz. He is paired with his brother, Vucub-Hunahpu. Hun-Hunahpu was defeated in the ballgame by the lords of the Underworld (Xibalba) and sacrificed. His head was suspended in a trophy-tree and changed to a calabash. The juice of the calabash impregnated a daughter of one of the lords of Xibalba Xquic. She fled the underworld and conceived the Twins.

After defeating the lords of the Underworld, the Twins recovered the remains of their father, but could not resuscitate him. Nonetheless, it has been asserted that the Mayas of the Classical Period took a more optimistic view, and believed the sad paternal figure to have been reborn as the maize. In this theory, the scene of a maize deity rising from a turtle carapace (the 'tomb' of the earth) is interpreted as Hun-Hunahpu resurrected, and the flanking Hero Twins assisting him are accordingly taken to be the maize deity's sons. In consequence of this theory, Hun-Hunahpu is often referred to as a 'maize deity', although the Popol Vuh itself does not support such a view.

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