Baucis and Philemon

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Image:Adam Elsheimer 008.jpg In Greek mythology, Baucis and Philemon were an old married couple who were the only ones in their town of Phrygia to welcome the disguised gods, Zeus and Hermes.

Zeus and Hermes came to the town of Phrygia disguised as ordinary peasants and began asking the people of the town for a place to sleep that night. The pair had asked everyone in the town before they came to Baucis and Philemon's run down cottage. Though they were poor, they were more polite than their rich neighbors. After serving the two guests food and wine, Baucis noticed that although she had refilled her guest's glasses many times, the wine pitcher was still full. Realising that her guests were in fact gods, she dropped to her knees, closely followed by her husband. Thinking that the humble meal was not enough for such guests, Philemon thought of catching and killing the goose that guarded their house and making it into a meal for the guests. But when Philemon went to catch the goose, it ran onto Zeus's lap. Zeus said that they did not need to slay the goose and that they should leave the town. Zeus said that he was going to destroy the town and all the people who had turned him away. He said Baucis and Philemon should climb the mountain with him and not turn back until they reached the top.

After climbing the mountain, Baucis and Philemon looked back on the town and saw that it had been destroyed by a flood. However, Zeus had turned Baucis and Philemon's cottage into an ornate temple. The couple were also granted a wish; they chose to stay together forever and to be guardians of the temple until they died. Upon their death, they were changed into an intertwining pair of trees, one oak and one linden.

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References

  • Mills, A. (2003). Baucis and Philemon. Mythology: Myths, Legends, & Fantasies. :76-77. ISBN 073361499.
  • Ovid VIII, 611.

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