Great Myths and Legends: Hero Twins of the Americas: Myths of Origin, Duality, and Vengeance

Myths concerning the “hero twins” are widespread from Canada to South America. In the archetypal Maya myth, a pair of twin brothers battle with a range of monsters and death deities as they seek to make the world safe for humankind. Instead of defeating their enemies in trials of strength, they outwit them in games of skill, ingenuity, and magic, offering role models of how best to survive death and ultimately attain rebirth into the sky. A variety of myths throughout North America draw on these same themes but differ dramatically in the details, thereby demonstrating the incredible antiquity of the basic story and the relationships between the diverse cultures of the New World.

Dr. Megan Kassabaum, Weingarten Assistant Curator, American Section and Dr. Simon Martin, Associate Curator / Keeper, American Section

[MatthewHenderson]

Great talk! The indigenous cultures of the Americas are so interesting—we don't hear about them nearly enough.

[Sinsteel]

So, very far back, Europeans and Native Americans share ancestry with North Eurasian DNA. If they brought the earliest versions of this story across the Bering Straight while migrating to America then it almost certainly shares a common source with the divine twins myth that has been reconstructed through Latin, Greek, Vedic, Nordic, Celtic, Slavic and other religions as the proto-Indo-European creation story.
Fascinating. I also saw for sale a Proto-Indo-European/Tsimshian dictionary which I scoffed at, now I'm not so sure.

[DanielTherrien]

Nice work, some kind of a new twist to the fact that the two Messias are never mentioned in most of today's religious talks. yet the Torah has identified the twin Messiahs as returning together, thank you.

[nickki]

Sounds similar to the Dene stories of Yamoria and his twin brother, they travelled all over the world helping people who were in trouble and helped right the wrongs for the future indigenous peoples. They had lots of different names depending on which culture tells it

[tafri]

These twins are present in Americas ?? Waooo ..
Now I realize how old my hinduism dates back to !!! It's staggering old per religious standard....

[dogmatic]

I find it strange how the twins just suddenly became the moon and sun at the same time, when the story of 7macaw says that the sun and moon were already in the sky but very dim, and macaw saying that he is both the sun and moon.Hmm.

[Sinsteel]

Divine twins...it's like the Dioscuri, the Ashvan twins, Hengist and Horsa...twin horsemen. Romulus and Remus too. The civilisation/wilderness thing also is like Gilgamesh and Enkidu.

[raiderjams]

Indigenous peoples were treated with such disrespect. Robbed of their land & culture!

[Frizzaland]

According to the Mayan Calender I am born on the day Hunahpu and since I am aware of it I'm very happy to get to know the myth more and more. In some way, it is 'my' life story.

[the_major]

Really interesting presentation! Thank you!

[blueovertoneeagle]

15:26 sounds like the Death of Osiris and Birth of Horus

[Danell]

This is the epic of Gilgamesh! Gilgamesh and Enkido look very much alike. Enkidu is practically his twin. Enkido is a wild man raised in the forest by animals, while Gilgamesh is raised in the city and becomes king. Enkido is hairy. Enkido is slightly shorter than Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh behaves more masculine than Enkido. Later his mother adopts Enkido and they become brothers. They go to fight the monster Humbaba, who has "seven auras". As a punishment for killing Humbaba, the gods later kill Enkido. This "myth" is from Mesopotamia (Iraq)!

Mount 72 at Cahokia, st. Clair County, Illinois, is interpreted as a mere reenactment of the tale of the hero twins, not the grave of the actual twins. This makes sense, since Gilgamesh and Enkido lived and died before the Mayan civilization took root.

Gilgamesh 2112 – 2004 BC
First societies in Mayan region 2000 BC. First Mayan cities  750 BC.

[wkboonec]

@ 41:47 "... as in the mine story ..." - Not "mine" but "Maya".

[uhoh]

Spectacular lecture. Maybe some variant was told in the great submerged human heartland of southeast Asia.

[amarforest]

Thank you Penn Museum Faculty for posting these amazing talks.
So the defeat of death, killing death allows the ressurection of the killed Father, who is Maize.
This is a nomadic hunter community trying to make sense of agriculture and then civilization.
All humans have gone through this each in it's own way.
Amazing...
Everywhere in these mythologies death is the main thing. In Aztec, Maya, Olmec?, Inca?, death is the main thing (not birth).
Why so focused on death...it seems these were hunters...
Agriculture is overcoming death.
Amazing...
I guess relates to no big herds of animals in Forests so death is the main thing and not birth?
I guess these are forest communities overwhelming...
I wonder if the peoples of the buffalo areas had a mythology around birth?

[nayukie]

Add in the time period, when you found out when it was depicted, in Maya and European times. Don't force yourself to do something you don't like. I am sure there is something much more suitable for your talents. It will make you a happier individual, less stressful, and give you less anxiety. I hope you find your truth. Much love.

[jonathansutcliffe]

53:17. you know more about this than i do but isn't the one of the twins bedecked with a square, his opposite bedecked with circle? further back... has one twin feigned to be his brother hence the losing head/face imagery? or is the dualism symbolic of one person - the evil twin metaphor developed to explain away this discrepancy? most learning lost or waylaid r.e this excellent wealth of study due to asiatic sidetracking of subject matter due to the word: INDIAN now much in vogue. the sub continent mistakenly certain that they are the people being discussed as against our actual point of reference which is north/south america. in future use term native american as against indian... or wogs.

[wkboonec]

@ 45:12 "... the de neige or the Navajo ..." = the Diné or the Navajo ... [pheeew!]

[babywise]

For 41:12 I'd make an argument that in North America there are no Macaws so they changed it to a giant squirrel

[AmNotHere]

Ritual sacrifice of females at mins 58:37 is very similar to the way females use to be ritually sacrificed at Viking boat burials.