Famous twins can be tracked up to the 8th century BC. Romulus and Remus are the legendary founders of Rome. Mark Antony and Cleopatra had twins named Alexander and Cleopatra, even though they did not leave a mark like their parents did.

In mythology there are a lot of twins:
Castor and Pollux, the Gemini twins, aka the Dioscuri. Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra, twin sisters of Castor and Pollux. Lava and Kusha, twins of Lord Rama and Sita. Apollo and Artemis, son and daughter of Zeus and Leto. Apollo is the god of the sun and Artemis is the goddess of the moon. Heracles and Iphicles.
These twins are different in personality. Usually one symbolizes light, truth and power of good and the other darkness, evil and negativity.

In the real world, most famous twins are so in tune to another, that when they work together they are known as one: the Olsen Twins (Mary Kate and Ashley), the Gibb brothers (Robin and Maurice), members and founders of the disco-rock group the Bee-Gees or even the de Boer twins (Frank and Ronald), two of the most popular soccer player in the Netherlands. Another famous duo is the McWhirter (Ross and Norris), compilers of the Guinness Book of Records'.

For the most part, although, one twin achieves more success than the other: Abigail Van Buren (dear Abby) had a twin sister named Ann Landers, who was also a columnist, but did not reach the legendary status of her sister. Actress scarlet Johansson has an   actress sister named hunter, who participated in movies, but is not regarded like Scarlet is.
This raises the question of why would these siblings go into the same profession? It is very rare for people to have such tremendous success, so it would be much harder to double it. Maybe, twins have an unconscious pact in which one helps to raise the other, even at his own expense. 

But maybe the most interesting thing about famous twins, are people who had twins but the twin died. King James II (Brother Alexander died as infant), Elvis Presley (brother Jesse died at birth), Ed Sullivan, William Randolph Hearst.
These are some of the most influential people in history. Could they have taken their twin's power, or perhaps they were to strong and their sibling had no room to share life with them?

Going through this list, it is a wonder why there are not more successful and famous twins. Each name on the list is an exceptional person, even more than some other from his profession. Maybe the answer is that twins work as a yin and yang and only when there is a major shift towards one of them, he or she wins huge success.

Are you a twin? Do you agree with this premise?
If you are expecting twins, have you any thoughts about their successes together and apart?

Please share with us your thoughts and your own conclusions

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