The Lotus Eaters
By: Anna Quigley
Lotus Eater Background
The Lotus Eaters were a large community of people in that lived on an island near North Africa. The main food source for the Lotus Eaters were lotus flowers and fruits that grew on the island. However, these lotus plants were narcotic which caused the people that ate them to be sleepy, peaceful, and forgetful. Therefore the Lotus Eaters lived without much of a purpose, for they walked around in a happy daze and never did work.
Group of Lotus Eaters
Lotus flower
Odysseus and the Lotus Eaters
Lotus Eaters in the Odyssey
The Lotus Eaters were mentioned in the book, The Odyssey, when Odysseus and his crew stumbled upon the island of the Lotus Eaters. The Lotus Eaters offered Odysseus's men the lotus flowers and after they ate it they didn't want to return to the ship and continue the journey. The lotus made them want to stay and sleep and eat more lotus. Odysseus had to drag them back onto the ships and tie them down before the lotus wore off and they continued on their journey. Some say the lotus represents drugs and once you rely on them you live in your own world and its extremely difficult to return to normal life.
Works Cited
Website #1: "How Odysseus Left Troyland and Sailed Past the Land of the Lotus Eaters."
Heritage History. N.p., 2013-2014. Web. 9 Nov. 2014. http://www.heritage-history.com/?c=read&author=langjean&book=odyssey&story=troylandWebsite #2: Stewart, Michael. "People, Places & Things: Lotus Eaters", Greek Mythology: From the Iliad to the Fall of the Last Tyrant. http://messagenetcommresearch.com/myths/ppt/Lotus_Eaters_1.html
Print Source: Martin, Richard P. "Return of Ulysses." Bulfinch’s Mythology. N.p.: Harper
Collins Publishing, 1991. N. pag. Print.