Zeus sends Hermes to Earth in disguise as an old beggar, along with Zeus also disguised, to see how humans have changed and if they still worship the gods. They encounter hostility from most people until an old couple, Baucis and Philemon, take them in for the night and treat them with kindness and hospitality despite having very little.

1. Baucis and
Philemon

2. Words We Need to Know:
Disguise [ dis GIZE]- to make yourself look like somebody else.
Mary pinned up her hair and disguised herself as a boy
Magnificent [ mag NIF I sent] – wonderful; very good or large
There are many magnificent buildings in New York City.
Messenger [ MES en jer] – someone whose job it is to carry
messages or small packages.
Bill worked as a messenger during his summer vacation.
Paving stones [ PAY ving STONZ ] – blocks of stones used to
make streets or roads.
Years ago many streets were made of paving stones.
Temple [ TEM pel ] – a large building for religious services
Some temples in Greece are over 2,000 years old
Vehicles [ VEE i kelz] – cars, trucks, buses, wagons, carts, etc.
Long ago vehicles were pulled by horses

3. Zeus was very worried. From his palace
high on Mount Olympus, the great king of
the gods looked down at the earth
Far below him, people hurried about like
tiny ants. Men seemed to be very busy
with their new fire and newer troubles .
Humans had begun to build towns and
cities . Roads ,once little more than
crooked paths through the woods were
now wide and straight. Someone had
invented the wheel , and wagons, carts,
and chariots moved in long lines along the
new roads. “It looks as if man can now do
anything he wants,” Zeus said to himself. “
The trouble is, how can I know what he
will want to do next”.

4. Zeus sent Hermes [ HUR
meez] , his messenger.
Hermes was the fastest of
the gods. His shoes had little
wings on them. He could
almost fly through the air.
“ I want you to go down to
earth ,” Zeus told Hermes
when he arrived . “ I want to
know what men are talking
about. I want to know if men
still remember the gods. See
if they think well of us, or if
they are planning war .”
Zeus
Hermes

5. Zeus watched Hermes step off into the air. Then he sat down
to a meal of ambrosia and nectar. As Zeus ate, he thought about
man. Everything – all Zeus’s plans for the future of the human
race– seemed to have gone wrong. Part of the trouble had been the
work of Prometheus and his fire. But the rest had been Zeus’s own
fault. He should’ never had put Pandora in the same house as the
box full of troubles. Zeus had planned to use the troubles to punish
men if they ever forgot the gods.
Hermes had good news when he returned.” Everywhere I
went,’’ he told Zeus,” the people cheered me and held big parades.
The leaders all made long speeches welcoming me to their fair cities.
Here, look at these.” From his pockets Hermes took enough keys to
open a hundred gates.” The keys to the cities of earth,” he told Zeus.
Zeus took the keys, but he didn’t seem interested in them.”
Yes,” he said, laying the keys to one side.” Now tell me, do humans
still remember the gods?”
“ The name of Zeus is always on their lips,” Hermes
answered.” Before almost every sentence they say your name.”

6. Zeus smiled.” tell me about
the temples they have built
to worship me ,” he ordered.
“ Are they made of gold, or
just plain silver?”
Hermes pulled on his ear.”
I didn’t happen to notice any
temples.”
“What!” cried Zeus. “ You
didn’t notice any temples?
Why, a temple should be the
biggest building in the
city.”Zeus pointed down
toward the earth. “Then tell
me, what are those big
buildings down there? They
call them stadiums,’’
Hermes said.” Teams of men
play games in them,
thousand people sit and
watch.”

7. Zeus shook his head sadly . “ I
fear, dear Hermes, that the earth
people do not love us as much as
you think. They saw you coming,
and they put on a big show. But
now I know that they have no
temples. How can the gods be
worshiped without temples?”
Hermes thought for a moment. As
always, Zeus was right.” Yes,”
Hermes agreed, “ I was fooled.”
A frown appeared on Zeus’s fac.
Fire and troubles had made men
very wicked indeed. It was bad
enough for men to do an evil thing,
like forgetting the gods. It was
much worse for them to pretend
they were doing the right thing.
Who could tell just how wicked
humans had become?

8. You will have to go to earth again.”
Zeus told Hermes. “ This time I want
you to travel in disguise. Take the wings
off your shoes and dress like an old
beggar. Have Venus paint lines on your
face, so you’ll look like an old, old man.
She can also color your hair gray.”
Hermes smiled at the idea. “ This is
going to be fun,’ he said.
“ It will be fun,” Zeus agreed. “ In
fact, I shall go with you! Together we
shall see just what man has made of
himself.”
A few hours later, two old beggars
passed through the gate of clouds.
Slowly they made their way down
Mount Olympus. They made a strange
sight as they bent forward walking
sticks and dragged their rag-covered
bodies along the road. The road grew
wider when it reached the earth. It was
covered with paving stones.

10. Zeus and Hermes stopped at the first
house they came to. Hermes knocked at
the front door.
The door opened-and just as quickly
slammed shut in their faces. Before either
of the gods could speaks, they heard the
click of a back door opening. Around the
corner of the house came a barking dog.
Zeus and Hermes had to run for their lives.
When the gods were safely in the middle
of town, they turned in at another
house."These time you try to hold the door
open," Zeus told Hermes. A tired-looking
woman with a baby in one arm opened the
door. The baby looked at the two beggars
and started to cry. Hermes held the door
open with his foot."Would you give two
old men something to eat?" Zeus asked.
The woman just stood there.

11. “Please, let two old beggars look through your garbage," The king of
the gods asked."In the name of Zeus."
"Don’t talk about Zeus to me!" cried the woman."The only thing your
great Zeus ever did was to fill the world with troubles.
"Zeus looked angry. Then he looked as though his heart would break.
He did not know what to say.
"Zeus is a mighty god," Spoke up Hermes. "He might do your favors if
you worshiped him properly.“
"Go worship him yourself," replied the woman. She looked the
strangers over front head to foot .“ look there at those rags you're
wearing. You seem to need his favors more than I do!
"Zeus shook his head."Take care," He warned."Zeus might punish you
someday."
the woman laughed and closed the door.
Tired, hungry, and sad of heart, the two gods turned away from the
door and walked out of the yard. Boys threw stones at them as they
walked down the main street of the town. Soon they had left the village
behind. The road ahead went almost straight up the side of the
mountain. Neither Zeus nor Hermes spoke as they started to climb.

12. A small cottage soon
appeared ahead of them.
Its walls were gray with
age. There was no glass in
the windows. In a garden
beside the cottage, an old
man bent over a hoe. A big
white goose in the yard
saw the gods coming and
made a loud hissing noise.
The old man looked up
when the goose hissed.”
Welcome, strangers,” he
called .” What brings you
this way? Only an errand
for the mighty Zeus could
send me along this road
with night falling.”

13. The two gods stopped and stood looking at each
other. They were too surprised to speak. Here was a
man who remembered Zeus!
“ Why not stop here for the night?” said the old
man.” You can go in the morning.”
Gratefully, Zeus and Hermes said there was
nothing they would rather do. The old man, whose
name was Philemon [ fi LEE mon], called his wife,
Baucis [ BAW sis ], from the house.
Baucis smiled at the travelers. “ What we have is
not much,” she said,” but you are welcome to it.”
Then Baucis take a quick look at the goose . She
nodded to her husband . Philemon jumped toward
the goose with his arm. Stretch out before him . The
big bird hissed and ran around a corner of the
cottage. Philemon followed it, as fast as his old legs
would carry him. Hissing and honking , the goose
led Philemon around and around the cottage.

14. “ Stop!” cried Zeus, when he saw what the old man was going to do. “ Don’t kill your goose.
We are used to hunger, and can eat but little.”
Philemon stopped running. His face was red, and he was too short of breath to speak. Baucis
asked the two gods into the cottage.
The inside of the cottage looked even older than the outside. Summer rains had leaked through
the roof and left dark, cloud –shaped stains on the walls and ceilings. The feet of Baucis and
Philemon had worn paths in the dirt floor. Baucis put two old chairs in front of a cold fire place.
She asked her guests to make themselves comfortable while she set the table.
In a few minutes Philemon brought a tiny cabbage in from the garden. Then he reached up in
the chimney and took of a little piece of bacon. A small pitcher half full of wine was put on the
table, and the four old people sat down to eat. The food was not enough for two people, let alone
four.
The wine glasses were less than half full. The two gods tired to act as if they didn’t notice how
small the servings were. But their hosts could not be fooled. Baucis and Philemon wore faces of
shame. When Hermes picked up the pitcher to refill his glass, Baucis was so ashamed that she
shut her eyes. She knew that she had just poured the last of the wine herself.
Then Baucis heard a strange sigh escape Philemon’s lips. She opened her eyes. Hermes was
filling the forth glass with wine! Baucis watched with her mouth open as her Hermes set the
pitcher down the table.

18. It was Cupid who started all the famous greek love stories. But noy all the
love matches he started had happy endings. Cupid was careless. Once, for
instance, he shot an arrow at a girl named Echo as she walked through the
woods on a warm summer day.
Echo didn’t feel Cupid’s arrow, though for an instant she had a slight psin in
her heart. Soon she came to a bubbling stream.as she stood on the bank
wondering how to get across, she saw, on the other side, a young hunter named
Narcissus [ nar SIS us ]. She could not take her eyes of him. She thought he
was the most handsome youth she had ever seen. Without thinking, she jumped
into the stream and started to wade through the water.
Their eyes met as she cross the stream. Those of echo were filled with love,
and those for Narcissus- well, the less said, the better. Cupid had gone of to start
new romances. He hadn’t bothered to shoot Narcissus. The youth did not return
Echo’ s love, even though she refused to leave his side.
“ Go away!” stormed Narcissus, as Echo followed him through the woods.”
why should I love you?”
“ I love you, “ Echo repeated. “ I love you.”
“ I’d rather die than let you marry me!” shouted Narcissus.
‘Marry me,” came the Echo. “ marry me.”
Narcissus became more and more angry. Whatever he said to this girl ,she
always had to have the last word