Xbalanque
Xbalanque is one of the Hero Twins in Maya mythology who is stated to have transformed into the Moon. Despite this transformation, Xbalanque is never shown assimilated to God G in Classic Maya art.
↻ synthesized from 8 sources
When
- First attested
- 500 BCE
- Attested period
- -500 – 1550
- Historical notes
- Documented in the early-colonial Popol Vuh manuscript.
Relationships
- co occurs with
- Cuchumaquic, Ixmucane, Lords of Xibalba, Hun-Hunahpu, Hun-Chowen, Vucub-Hunahpu, Hun Batz, Earth Gods, rain deity, Hun Batz, Hun Choven, First Father, One-Maize-revealed, Wakah-Chan, Maya Hero Twins, One-Death, Seven-Death, Vucub Hunahpu, Blood Gatherer, Owl Messengers, Xmucane, One-Monkey, One-Artisan, Guardians of Food, Egret Woman, Earth Deity, Xquic, Xibalba, Hun-Hunahpu, Hunahpu, Vucub-Caquix, God G
- enemy of
- Cabrakán, Zipacna, lords of the Underworld (Xibalba), Vucub-Caquix, One Howler Monkey, One Artisan
- sibling of
- Hunahpu
- syncretized with
- Jaguar Twin Hero
- child of
- Ixquic, Blood Moon, Xquic, Hun, Hun-Hunahpu, Hun-Hunahpu
- manifested by
- Awilix
Mentioned by
Sources
Source passages
“the Hero Twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, although stated to have changed into Sun and Moon, are never shown assimilated to God G”
#16803 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
“According to this source, Hun Hunahpu is the father of the Maya Hero Twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque. He is also the father of the twins' half-brothers, the patrons of artisans and writers, Hun-Chowen and Hun-Batz. Hun Hunahpu is paired with his brother, Vucub-Hunahpu”
#33171 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“The Jaguar Twin Hero, companion to Hun-Ahpu (or Hun-Ajaw) and thus corresponding to Xbalanque in the much later Popol Vuh Twin myth, has patches of jaguar skin stuck to his arms and body, in addition to jaguar pimples around his mouth. Fittingly, in the Popol Vuh, Xbalanque is the more violent Twin.”
#33217 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Hunahpu and Xbalanque played ball in the same court that their father and his brother had played in long before them. When One Hunahpu and his brother had played, the noise had disturbed the Lords of Xibalba, rulers of the Maya Underworld”
#33251 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“In the seventies, the leading Maya scholar Michael D. Coe identified several actors of the Popol Vuh hero myth on ceramics, chief amongst these Hunahpu, Xbalanque, and the Howler Monkey brothers”
#33277 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5