Baucis and Philemon

In classical mythology, an elderly Phrygian country couple whose names were symbolic of married love. They entertained Zeus and Hermes, messenger of the gods, when all others had refused them hospitality. In reward they were saved from a flood; their tiny cottage rose above the waters transformed into a temple.

When Zeus offered to grant them a wish, the couple's only desire was to serve the god and die together. After death Philemon became an oak and Baucis a lime tree.

Their story is told by the Roman poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses.

Art Artistic representations depict the hospitality of the couple, with the gods sitting disguised as mortals and a goose, which they intended to kill in honour of their guests, being chased or standing nearby.