The ancient flood story of Baucis and Philemon is a tale of hospitality and kindness. It bears some similarities to other great flood stories that linger in our collective psyche.
Baucis and Philemon were poor and elderly, but they were also known for their generous hearts.
One day, Zeus and Hermes, two powerful gods, decided to test the hospitality of the people in Phrygia by disguising themselves as poor beggars. They went from house to house, asking for food, but all the people turned them away.
Finally, they reached a poor little hut owned by Baucis and Philemon. Despite their own poverty, the couple welcomed the strangers in and gave them a simple meal.
As the couple sat down to eat with the strangers, they became frightened when the wine magically kept refilling itself. They fell into fearful prayer, asking the gods to forgive them for any wrong they had done.
Zeus and Hermes then revealed their true identities to the couple and led them to a mountaintop.
Suddenly, a flood of water rose up beneath them and all the rude and greedy people were drowned. The couple’s humble hut was the only thing that remained standing.
In recognition of their kindness and hospitality, Zeus turned the hut into a magnificent temple and the elderly couple lived there as priests.
On their last day alive, Zeus granted Baucis and Philemon a final wish. The couple asked that they not ever suffer the loss of one another.
Zeus granted their wish by turning them into two trees, an oak and a linden, so that they would always be together.
