Lotus-eaters

 ( Ancient Libyans ) 

In Greek mythology, lotophages or the lotus-eaters () were a race of people living on an island dominated by the lotus tree off coastal Tunisia (Island of Djerba), a plant whose botanical identity is uncertain. The Lotophagi race in the Odyssey are said to eat the fruit of the lotos "sweet as honey". The lotus fruits and flowers were the primary food of the island and were a narcotic, causing the inhabitants to sleep in peaceful apathy. After they ate the lotus, they would forget their home and loved ones and long only to stay with their fellow lotus-eaters. Those who ate the plant never cared to report or return.

Figuratively, 'lotus-eaters' denotes "people who spend their time indulging in pleasure and luxury rather than dealing with practical concerns".

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Etymology In English, the lotus-eaters (, lōtophágoi), are also referred to as the lotophagi or lotophaguses (singular lotophagus ) or lotophages (singular lotophage ).

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Mythology In Homer's epic poem the Odyssey Book IX, Odysseus tells how adverse north winds blew him and his men off course as they were rounding Cape Malea, the southernmost tip of the Peloponnesus, headed westwards for Ithaca:

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Location Herodotus, in the 5th century BC, was sure that they still existed in his day in coastal Libya:

Polybius identifies the land of the lotus-eaters as the island of Djerba (ancient Meninx), off the coast of Tunisia.Polybius 1:39 Later, this identification is supported by Strabo.Strabo 1.2.17. Pseudo-Skylax mentions lotus-eaters in area of northern and central Dalmatia ("namely the Iaderatenai and Boulinoi").

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Lotus plant Because the Greek word λωτός lōtós can refer to several different plants, there is some ambiguity as to which "lotus" appears in the Odyssey.

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In popular culture The Lotos-Eaters is a poem by Alfred Tennyson, describing a group of mariners who, upon eating the lotos, are put into an altered state and isolated from the outside world.

British romantic composer Hubert Parry wrote a half-hour choral setting of Tennyson's poem for soprano, choir, and orchestra.BBC Radio 3's The Choir program, broadcast 22 January 2012

The Lotus Eaters (Weinbaum) is a 1935 short story by Stanley G. Weinbaum that explores the Lotus Eaters as an intelligent vegetative species on the planet Venus discovered by human explorers. Project Gutenberg Australia

The 1972-1973 BBC television series The Lotus Eaters (TV series) features a group of British people in Crete, many staying there to escape difficulties or embarrassments in their previous lives.

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See also

• Moly – another plant mentioned in the Odyssey whose identity has attracted scholarly interest

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