The myth of Zeus' test - Iseult Gillespie — Transcript

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1. 0:08It was dark when two mysterious, shrouded figures
2. 0:13appeared in the hillside village.
3. 0:16The strangers knocked on every door in town, asking for food and shelter.
4. 0:22But, again and again, they were turned away.
5. 0:26Soon, there was just one door left:
6. 0:29that of a small, thatched shack.
7. 0:34An elderly couple, Baucis and Philemon, answered the thunderous knock.
8. 0:41Although there was something off about these visitors,
9. 0:45it was in the pair’s nature to care for those in need.
10. 0:50Philemon invited them to rest,
11. 0:53and the cottage flooded with warmth as Baucis teased the fire back to life.
12. 0:59When they were young, Baucis and Philemon had fallen in love,
13. 1:04married, and settled in the humble cottage.
14. 1:08Decades later, their home was still standing—
15. 1:12and they were more devoted to each other than ever.
16. 1:17The strangers watched intently as Baucis nestled twigs under a battered pot
17. 1:24filled with vegetables.
18. 1:27The couple could rarely afford meat, but in honor of their guests,
19. 1:30Philemon cut strips from an aging shank for the stew.
20. 1:36They made cheerful conversation and offered their visitors hot baths.
21. 1:41Baucis used a chip of broken clay to balance the wobbly table’s legs
22. 1:45and rubbed its surface with mint until it smelled sweet and fresh.
23. 1:52Weaving around each other with care,
24. 1:54the couple transformed what they had into a feast.
25. 1:58Soon, the tabletop overflowed with food and the last of their sweet wine.
26. 2:05Privately, Baucis and Philemon worried that their provisions would run out.
27. 2:11Yet, as the night wore on,
28. 2:13and their strange guests took hearty gulps of wine,
29. 2:17the clay vessel never ran dry.
30. 2:21The couple, at first relieved, grew terrified.
31. 2:26Their guests weren’t humble peasants traveling the countryside.
32. 2:32They were almost certainly gods in disguise—
33. 2:37but which gods, they didn’t know.
34. 2:41Panicked that their preparations were inadequate,
35. 2:44Baucis and Philemon searched for another offering.
36. 2:48The only precious thing left was the goose that guarded their home.
37. 2:52The couple repeatedly lunged after the bird,
38. 2:56but they were too worn out for the chase.
39. 2:58So, they prepared to receive the wrath of the gods.
40. 3:03Their guests rose up, shedding their rags and mortal masks.
41. 3:09Looming before them was Zeus, the storm-brewing ruler of the gods,
42. 3:15and his son, Hermes,
43. 3:18the fleet-footed messenger who shepherded mortals to the underworld.
44. 3:23The gods told the old couple that, unlike the other townspeople,
45. 3:28they had shown true xenia, or loving hospitality to strangers.
46. 3:34They alone had passed the test.
47. 3:38The gods commanded the couple to follow them,
48. 3:42and the group ascended the nearest mountain.
49. 3:45Nearing the summit, Baucis and Philemon looked back—
50. 3:49but were shocked to see a murky swamp where their village stood
51. 3:53just moments before.
52. 3:55As punishment for refusing to shelter the gods,
53. 3:58Zeus and Hermes had cast the townspeople underwater,
54. 4:04leaving only their hosts’ home intact,
55. 4:08Recalling their friends and neighbors,
56. 4:10Baucis and Philemon couldn’t hide their terror and mournful tears,
57. 4:15even as their house transformed below.
58. 4:19It grew larger and sprouted marble pillars and steps.
59. 4:24Legends etched themselves onto its grand doors.
60. 4:29Their rickety cottage had metamorphosed into a gleaming temple for the gods.
61. 4:36Hermes commended the couple and gently asked if there was anything they desired.
62. 4:42After a brief discussion, Philemon requested that he and Baucis
63. 4:47be permitted to care for the new temple.
64. 4:50And he asked if, when their time came, they could die together,
65. 4:55so neither would have to face life without the other.
66. 4:59Tending to the temple and one another, they lived many more years.
67. 5:05Until, one day, Baucis noticed leaves fluttering from her husband’s hands
68. 5:12and looked down to find her own skin hardening.
69. 5:17They embraced, becoming rooted in place.
70. 5:21Vines wound around their legs and canopies flourished overhead.
71. 5:27They bid each other a loving, last farewell as humans.
72. 5:33And where Baucis and Philemon had just stood, bent with age,
73. 5:39there towered a linden and an oak tree,
74. 5:43their branches intertwined for eternity.