In Greek mythology, Baucis and Philemon were an old couple who welcomed the disguised gods, Zeus and Hermes. Though they were poor, they were more polite than their rich neighbors. As punishment, Zeus turned their neighbors' land into swamp but turned Baucis and Philemon's shack into an ornate temple. The couple was also granted a wish; they chose to stay together forever. Upon their death, they were changed into an intertwining pair of trees, one oak and one lime.
Philemon and Baucis alternately pray to the Gods (2) to lessen the fury of the storm; they fall on their knees, the storm abates and the landscape is bathed in the red of the dying sun.
In the hut of Philemon and Baucis are two urns, with the ashes of their son, Aret, and his betrothed, Narcissa.
Philemon suggests (9) that they kill the goose which they had been saving for the wedding meal, and which, after the death of the bridal pair, they had intended to slaughter as an offering to the gods.
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