Baucis and Philemon Wikipedia. Jupiter and Mercury in the house of Philemon and Baucis, Adam Elsheimer, c. Dresden. In Ovids moralizing fable which stands on the periphery of Greek mythology and Roman mythology, Baucis and Philemon were an old married couple in the region of Tyana, which Ovid places in Phrygia, and the only ones in their town to welcome disguised gods Zeus and Hermes in Roman mythology, Jupiter and Mercury respectively, thus embodying the pious exercise of hospitality, the ritualized guest friendship termed xenia, or theoxenia when a god was involved. 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, so wicked were the people of that land, when at last they came to Baucis and Philemons simple rustic cottage. Though the couple were poor, their generosity far surpassed that of their rich neighbours, among whom the gods found doors bolted and no word of kindness. After serving the two guests food and wine which Ovid depicts with pleasure in the details, Baucis noticed that, although she had refilled her guests beechwood cups many times, the pitcher was still full from which derives the phrase Hermess Pitcher.
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