Baucis and Philemon

**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.