Hunahpu

Hunahpu (in the standardized modern K'iche' Maya spelling Junajpu, corresponding to the Classic Maya Juun Ajaw, meaning 'One Blowgunner' or 'One Lord') is the prominent solar hero twin, divine hunter and ballgame player of Maya mythology, the central protagonist of the Popol Vuh. Son of Hun Hunahpu and of Xquic, the maiden of the underworld, Junajpu and his inseparable twin brother Xbalanque played the role of cosmic pioneers in the age before the first solar dawn, defeating the arrogant false sun Vucub Caquix and his demiurgic sons Sipacna and Cabracan. Summoned by the death lords Jun Kame and Wuqub' Kame to descend to Xibalba because of the noise of the ballgame on the surface of the earth, the brothers overcame successive chambers of underground torment (the Dark House, the House of Razors, the House of Cold, the House of Jaguars, the House of Fire and the House of Bats). Beheaded in the lair of the bat Camazotz, Junajpu had his head recovered by Xbalanque through a stratagem on the ballcourt. After voluntarily sacrificing themselves in a blazing fire and being resurrected as itinerant illusionists, the twins executed the monarchs of Xibalba without returning to them the breath of life, avenging the death of their father and ascending triumphantly to the firmament to become the daytime sun and the full moon.

6 min read · Reviewed on September 28, 2026 · How we research

The blowgun, the ball-game ball, the spots on his body and the rising sun

Primary sources

• Anônimo (Maias K'iche'), Popol Vuh: The Sacred Book of the Maya. translation: Allen J. Christenson, University of Oklahoma Press, 2007.
• Michael D. Coe, The Maya Scribe and His World. translation: The Grolier Club, New York, 1973.

Studies

• Dennis Tedlock, Popol Vuh (Ed. Dennis Tedlock). Simon & Schuster, 1996.
• Karl Taube, The Major Gods of Ancient Yucatan. Dumbarton Oaks, 1992.
• Linda Schele e David Freidel, A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya. William Morrow, 1990.