de Rachewiltz B, Parisi P, Castellani V
Acta Genet Med Gemellol (Roma). 1976;25:17-9. doi: 10.1017/s0001566000013751.
Twins have an important place in mythology and a sacred character appears to be attached to them since the most ancient times. In ancient Egypt, the royal placenta was worshipped, being considered as the Pharao's twin (a conception that is still alive among certain African populations), and actually everyone was considered to possess a spiritual twin, the Ka or astral body, through whom it was supposed to be possible to operate with magic rituals and hit enemies. Twin gods were worshipped by Babylonians and Assyrians (who even introduced them among astronomic constellations), and may be also found in the Persian and Veda religions. In the classic, Greco-Roman world, the examples of twin gods and heroes are innumerable: from the twin sons of Zeus, the Dioscuri, to the opposite-sexed twin gods Apollo and Diana, to Rome's founders, Romulus and Remus, etc. Since the most ancient times, a magic conception is connected to the twins, either in a positive or a negative sense, but often with some kind of a "fatidic" aspect. Such a two-faced approach to the phenomenon of twinning, that variously characterizes near-east, protomediterranean, classic, and other ancient civilizations, may still be found in contemporary primitive societies.
双胞胎在神话中占据重要地位，自远古时代起，他们似乎就被赋予了神圣的特质。在古埃及，王室胎盘受到崇拜，被视为法老的双胞胎（这种观念在某些非洲人群中依然存在），实际上，每个人都被认为拥有一个精神上的双胞胎，即卡或星体，人们认为通过它可以进行魔法仪式并打击敌人。巴比伦人和亚述人崇拜双胞胎神（他们甚至将其引入天文星座中），在波斯宗教和吠陀宗教中也能找到相关记载。在古典的希腊罗马世界，双胞胎神和英雄的例子数不胜数：从宙斯的双胞胎儿子狄俄斯库里兄弟，到异性双胞胎神阿波罗和狄安娜，再到罗马的创建者罗慕路斯和雷穆斯等等。自古以来，双胞胎就与一种神秘的观念相联系，这种观念无论是积极的还是消极的，往往都带有某种“宿命”的色彩。这种对双胞胎现象的两面性看法，在近东、原始地中海、古典以及其他古代文明中有着不同的表现，在当代原始社会中仍然可以找到。
