Baucis and Philemon
Though the couple were poor, their generosity far surpassed that of their rich neighbors, among whom the gods found "doors bolted and no word of kindness".Realizing that her guests were gods, she and her husband "raised their hands in supplication and implored indulgence for their simple home and fare".Philemon thought of catching and killing the goose that guarded their house and making it into a meal, but when he went to do so, it ran to safety in Zeus's lap.After climbing to the summit ("as far as an arrow could shoot in one pull"), Baucis and Philemon looked back on their town and saw that it had been destroyed by a flood and that Zeus had turned their cottage into an ornate temple.Upon their death, the couple were changed into an intertwining pair of trees, an oak and a linden, standing in the deserted boggy terrain.
Jacob van OostAdam ElsheimerRubensJean-Bernard RestoutRembrandtromanizedGreek mythologyMetamorphosesPhrygiaHermesJupiterMercuryhospitalitytheoxeniatemplelindenAarne-Thompson-UtherNathaniel HawthorneA Wonder-Book for Girls and BoysJean de la FontaineJohn DrydenJonathan SwiftJoseph HaydnPhilemon und Baucis, oder Jupiters Reise auf die ErdeGoethe's Faust IInovellaThe Old World LandownersCharles Gounodopéra comiquePhilémon et BaucisLanchester MarionettesItalo CalvinoInvisible CitiesCharles FrazierCold MountainKároly MakkShakespeareMuch Ado About NothingAs You Like ItUrsula DubosarskyAndré BretonThom GunnBarbey d'AurevillyLes DiaboliquesMax FrischGantenbeinCarl JungRed BookEzra PoundThe OverstoryRichard PowersJenn AshworthEdward CareyKate BernheimerDarby and JoanHospitiumSodom and GomorrahXenia (Greek)WikisourceHamilton, EdithMetamorphoses in Greek mythologyAcanthisAcanthusAëdonAegoliusAegypiusAëtosAesacusAgrius and OreiusAlcanderAlcyoneAlcyone and CeyxAlcyonidesAlectryonAnthusAntigoneArne SithonisArtemicheAscalaphusAsteriaAutonousBotresCaeneusCeleusCerberusChelidonCinyrasClinisCoroneCtesyllaCycnus of AetoliaCycnus of AresCycnus of ColonaeCycnus of LiguriaDaedalionErinomaErodiusEumelusGeranaHarmothoëHarpalyceHarpasusHieraxHippodamiaHyperippeIctinusLelanteLyciusMegaletorMeleagridsMemnonidesMeropisMeropsMinyadesMunichusNeophronNyctaeaNyctimeneOenotropaeOrtygiusPandareusPerdixPeriphasPeristeraPieridesPhilaeus