My storybook project will be about various twin myths from around the world. I have always been fascinated by twins and duality. I think it is interesting how twins in mythology are sometimes basically perfect replicas of each other, but sometimes represent opposites. The sense of twins as two parts to one whole really interests me. There are lots of important sets of twins in literature, and they are often used as a device to show the effects of society.  I am interested in exploring the various ways that twins represent one whole in mythology.

    In addition to representing duality, stories about twins often have tons of sexual overtones. Often, the twins are the creators of the human race or something else, and have obviously done some procreating. There is a closeness revealed through twins that societies usually ascribe to sex. All the references to two parts to one whole, etc. can’t be missed as being partly sexual.

    I think all cultures ascribe a particular importance to the birth of twins. However, the birth of twins is not always seen as a good thing. Some cultures kill the twins upon birth, and sometimes the mother is even killed. Twins are thought to be a sign of the mother’s infidelity in some cultures. In all cultures, twins are either considered a special blessing or a curse. The reasons for these differences of opinion are founded in the mythology and superstitions of each individual culture. I will be exploring some of the superstitions in addition to retelling some twin myths.

    The first set of mythic twins that I could think of were Romulus and Remus. They were the twins that were raised by the she-wolf and eventually founded Rome according to legend. Then I thought of Gemini, but I wasn’t very familiar with them at all. I started looking into the topic and found that most cultures have twin stories. My storybook is going to be about twin stories from very different cultures around the world, rather than concentrating on all the twin stories from one culture.

    The frametale for the twin myths will be two older women talking to each other. One will be your stereotypical, crabby mother-in-law type. The other will be your sweet and nurturing grandma type. The mother-in-law’s son and his wife are about to have twins! But is Grandma-to-be excited? Of course not. In fact, all she can do is talk about how much trouble it is going to be and how twins are bad luck. She’s even got stories to back it up! But don’t worry, her friend will straighten her out…

Stories I plan to use:
Romulus and Remus – Roman
Hunahpu and Xbalanque – Mayan
Liza and Mawu – West Africa
“The Twin Brothers” – Yoruba

Web Resources:
Website: Twins in Mythology
Weblink: http://www2.sfu.ca/archaeology/museum/ndi/twinmyths.html
Excellent source of stories
Website: Encyclopedia Mythica
Weblink: http://www.pantheon.org
Really good brief descriptions of twins
Website: “The Singing Bone” at Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts
Weblink: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0780.html#nigeria
“The Twin Brothers” myth and other stories
Website: The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion by Bartleby.com
Weblink: http://bartleby.com
Superstitions associated with twins
Website: Artcyclopedia
Weblink: http://www.artcyclopedia.com
Several paintings of Romulus and Remus