Baucis

views updated May 18 2018

Baucis in a story told by Ovid, the wife of a good old countryman Philemon. They entertained the gods Zeus and Hermes as hospitably as their poverty allowed when the gods, who had visited the earth in disguise, were rejected by the rich. For this, the couple were saved from a flood which covered the district, and their dwelling was transformed into a temple of which they became the first priest and priestess. They were also granted their request to die at the same time, and were then turned into trees whose boughs intertwined.