Popol Vuh

by

Dennis Tedlock

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Popol Vuh makes teaching easy.

Seven Hunahpu Character Analysis

Seven Hunahpu is One Hunahpu's brother; his parents are Xmucane and Xpiyacoc. Though One Hunahpu fathers children, Seven Hunahpu never takes a wife and, according to the narrator, remains "a boy" and a mere uncle figure to his four nephews. He and his brother are very good at a traditional Mesoamerican ball game, and Seven Hunahpu spends most of his time on earth playing. He dies when One Death and Seven Death summon him and One Hunahpu to Xibalba for a match, and he and his brother fall for all the tricks of the Xibalban lords. After Hunahpu and Xbalanque's victory, they ask Seven Hunahpu to name the parts of his face so that he can "be put back together again" after his death. Though Seven Hunahpu can only name a few parts of his face, the twins leave their father and uncle buried in the ball court so they'll be able to be appropriately worshipped.

Seven Hunahpu Quotes in Popol Vuh

The Popol Vuh quotes below are all either spoken by Seven Hunahpu or refer to Seven Hunahpu. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Origins, Customs, and the Mayan Culture Theme Icon
).
Part Three Quotes

After that, his son is like his saliva, his spittle, in his being, whether it be the son of a lord or the son of a craftsman, an orator. The father does not disappear, but goes on being fulfilled...

Related Characters: One Hunahpu (speaker), Hunahpu, Xbalanque, Seven Hunahpu, Blood Moon
Page Number: 99
Explanation and Analysis:

"Listen, we shall name our names, and we shall also name the names of our fathers for you. Here we are: we are little Hunahpu and Xbalanque by name. And these are our fathers, the ones you killed: One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu by name. And we are here to clear the road of the torments and troubles of our fathers.

Related Characters: Hunahpu, Xbalanque, One Hunahpu, Seven Hunahpu
Page Number: 138
Explanation and Analysis:

They put Seven Hunahpu back together...He had wanted his face to become just as it was, but when he was asked to name everything, and once he had found the name of the mouth, the nose, the eyes of his face, there was very little else to be said.

Related Characters: Hunahpu, Xbalanque, Seven Hunahpu
Page Number: 141
Explanation and Analysis:
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Seven Hunahpu Quotes in Popol Vuh

The Popol Vuh quotes below are all either spoken by Seven Hunahpu or refer to Seven Hunahpu. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Origins, Customs, and the Mayan Culture Theme Icon
).
Part Three Quotes

After that, his son is like his saliva, his spittle, in his being, whether it be the son of a lord or the son of a craftsman, an orator. The father does not disappear, but goes on being fulfilled...

Related Characters: One Hunahpu (speaker), Hunahpu, Xbalanque, Seven Hunahpu, Blood Moon
Page Number: 99
Explanation and Analysis:

"Listen, we shall name our names, and we shall also name the names of our fathers for you. Here we are: we are little Hunahpu and Xbalanque by name. And these are our fathers, the ones you killed: One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu by name. And we are here to clear the road of the torments and troubles of our fathers.

Related Characters: Hunahpu, Xbalanque, One Hunahpu, Seven Hunahpu
Page Number: 138
Explanation and Analysis:

They put Seven Hunahpu back together...He had wanted his face to become just as it was, but when he was asked to name everything, and once he had found the name of the mouth, the nose, the eyes of his face, there was very little else to be said.

Related Characters: Hunahpu, Xbalanque, Seven Hunahpu
Page Number: 141
Explanation and Analysis: