Baucis and Philemon

Baucis and Philemon is a folklore legend from Tyana, Turkey, dated to ~1500 BC (Prehistoric era). It connects to 3 other myths and legends in the Mythosjourney atlas.

**Baucis and Philemon** (Φιλήμων και Βαυκίς in Greek, transliterated as *Philēmōn kai Baukis*) are figures from Greek mythology whose story survives through Ovid's *Metamorphoses*. The tale centers on an elderly married couple living in Tyana, a region that Ovid situates in Phrygia. When Zeus and Hermes (known to Romans as Jupiter and Mercury) visited their town in disguise, Baucis and Philemon were the only townspeople to offer them hospitality.

Their actions exemplified the sacred practice of *xenia* - the traditional guest-host relationship - or more specifically *theoxenia* when the guests were divine beings.