The story of Baucis and Philemon can be used separately. Baucis and Philemon were an old married couple, and the only ones in their town to welcome disguised gods Zeus and Hermes (Jupiter and Mercury in Roman mythology), thus embodying the pious exercise of hospitality. Zeus and Hermes came disguised as ordinary peasants, and began asking the people of the town for a place to sleep that night. They had been rejected by all, when at last they came to Baucis and Philemon’s simple rustic cottage. Though the couple was poor, their generosity far surpassed that of their rich neighbours. After serving the two guests with food and wine. Baucis noticed that, although she had refilled her guest’s cups many times, the pitcher was still full and realized that their guests were gods. 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. Zeus said they need not slay the goose and that they should leave the town. This was because he was going to destroy the town and all those who had turned them away and not provided due hospitality. He told Baucis and Philemon to climb the mountain with him and Hermes and not to turn back until they reached the top. After climbing to the summit, 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 a temple. The couple’s wish to be guardians of the temple was granted. They also asked that when time came for one of them to die, that the other would die as well. Upon their death, the couple were changed into an intertwining pair of trees, an oak and a linden. Jacob van Oost’s painting can be submitted for discussion before reading the text and can be later used as reference.
