Baucis and Philemon

Here is another story that can only be found in Ovid's Metamorphoses. This was a story that Lelex, king of the Lelegians, told to Ixion the impious king of the Lapiths.

Two gods, Jupiter (Zeus) and his son Mercury (Hermes), decided to visit a town disguised as two mortal suppliants. The two gods went into a small town in Phrygia. They went to every home seeking shelter and hospitality. Each household rudely turned the gods away.

Finally they arrived little old hut where an elderly couple dwelled, named Baucis (Βαύκις) and Philemon (Φιλεμον). They welcomed the weary travellers, treating their guests with generosity and kindness. They shared their meagre meal with the disguised gods.

The couple then became aware that the cups of wine that their guests drank remained full. Baucis and Philemon were awe-struck that their guests were divine. The gods asked them to follow them to a nearby high hill. When the elderly couple looked behind them, they saw that the inhospitable town in the valley had vanished beneath a lake. The whole town was destroyed and only the cottage of Baucis and Philemon remained untouched.

The gods revealed their identity. The cottage was transformed into a temple. They were made priest and priestess of the temple.

Jupiter asked the couple what boon they would wish for. The man and wife asked that they would live the rest of their lives together, and that they would die at the same instance, such was their love. Jupiter granted their wish.

Baucis and Philemon lived the rest of their lives, tending the temple. The moment when they were to die, the gods gradually transformed them into trees. They said their last goodbye to one another before the transformations were completed. The trees grew side by side.