Maya religion
Heroes

Within the group of the ancestors, a special category is constituted by the heroes, best known through the sixteenth-century Quichean epic of the Maya hero twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque. In the Classic period, the adventures of these two heroes – only partly coinciding with those of the Popol Vuh – were known all over the Mayan area. Specific ancestral heroes occur among various traditional Maya groups, such as the dwarfish Ez among the Yucatec Mayas; Juan K'anil among the Jacaltecs of the northwestern highlands; Ohoroxtotil, the jaguar slayer, among the Tzotziles of Chiapas; and Kumix among the Ch'orti' Mayas. The heroes' actions can belong to a relatively recent past, and be semi-historical, or have occurred in the deep past, and be primeval; but in principle, the heroes can be addressed in prayer, and receive some form of worship. Sometimes, they have merged with specific military saints.
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