Myths and Legends

Twins

So twins. You've met a pair or two in your life. They could have been identical of fraternal, every culture had their own take on twins right? You see you have a lot of cultures to blame for all your misconceptions about twins. You see twins take up the tropes of
-Two halves of the same whole
-Evil Twin
- Actually an evil Shadow/ doppelgänger
- Polar Opposites
-Duality in Nature
So on and so forth. Though in some cases the whole "Polar Opposite" thing is true. Not all twins are into the same thing.
Plus there are some pretty wacky reasons a woman twins. Many cultures have mythic or folkloric explanations for how twins are conceived. In Greek mythology, some twins were conceived when a woman slept with both a mortal and a god on the same day. One of her offspring thereafter had godlike qualities, and the other was an ordinary mortal, such as Heracles and his twin brother Iphicles or Castor and Pullox. In some Native American cultures, it's because a woman ate twin fruit ( like cherries or bananas(I think it's because bananas come in groups)). In other cultures, twins were attributed to superior virility of the father.
Also before I move on, " Duality in Nature" and "Polar Opposites" are two different tropes. Though similar, their not. You see " Duality in Nature" means something along the lines of different elements, like the twins Apollo and Artemis, one representing an aspect of nature like the sun and moon. Whereas "Polar Opposite" are more so personality wise.The twin may be a brother, or a soul-mate, such as the "civilized" Gilgamesh and the "wild" Enkidu.
Moving on, twins have this sense of being different yet the same, it's hard to explain. You see, twins are often seen differently no matter how similar they look. The Cherokee tribes saw birth of twins was regarded in a special light. They believe that twins had some unusual power or ability( don't quote me on that. It comes from a mostly oral tradition. I could be wrong and sources do vary) to the point that, this is what the settlers said " They might become priests or witches." The natives believed that twins may have some power, but they also believe that the twins were mischievous, but it was the younger twin that fit that role.
So why do twins show up so often in myths and Legends? Well, it might have to do with numerical values( I'll explain that in another chapter). Like there's a superstition when it comes to certain number. 2 is no different. But it actually goes back to that duality thing I mentioned. A lot of the twins who do show up in myths are often the opposite of each other, going back to the whole Apollo/ Artemis thing. They represent an aspect of nature( in their case Day and night ) while also being polar opposites. Whereas Apollo loves pretty girls... and the occasional guy, Artemis doesn't really do relationships... other than that Orion guy.
But who knows? Culture is confusing and I'm really glad I don't have a twin.