Lotophagos

In Greek mythology the **lotus-eaters** (Greek: λωτοφάγοι, *lōtophagoi*), also referred to as the **lotophagi** or **lotophaguses** (singular *lotophagus* /ləˈtɒfəɡəs/) or **lotophages** (singular *lotophage* /ˈloʊtəfeɪdʒ/), were a race of people living on an island dominated by lotos plants. The lotos fruits and flowers were the primary food of the island and were a narcotic, causing the inhabitants to sleep in peaceful apathy.

(Botanical candidates for the lotus tree include the date-plum (*Diospyros lotus*), which is a sub-evergreen tree native to Africa that grows to about 25 feet bearing yellowish green flowers,[2] as well as *Ziziphus lotus*, a plant with an edible fruit closely related to the jujube, native to North Africa and the islands in the Gulf of Gabes such as Jerba.)

In the Odyssey 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:

"I was driven thence by foul winds for a space of 9 days upon the sea, but on the tenth day we reached the land of the lotos eaters, who live on a food that comes from a kind of flower. Here we landed to take in fresh water, and our crews got their midday meal on the shore near the ships. When they had eaten and drunk I sent two of my company to see what manner of men the people of the place might be, and they had a third man under them. They started at once, and went about among the lotos eaters, who did them no hurt, but gave them to eat of the lotos, which was so delicious that those who ate of it left off caring about home, and did not even want to go back and say what had happened to them, but were for staying and munching lotos with the lotos eaters without thinking further of their return; nevertheless, though they wept bitterly I forced them back to the ships and made them fast under the benches. Then I told the rest to go on board at once, lest any of them should taste of the lotos and leave off wanting to get home, so they took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars."

Herodotus, in the fifth century BC, was sure that the lotos eaters still existed in his day, in coastal Libya:

A promontory jutting out into the sea from the country of the Gindanes is inhabited by the lotos eaters, who live entirely on the fruit of the lotos tree. The lotos fruit is about the size of the lentisk berry and in sweetness resembles the date. The lotos eaters even succeed in obtaining from it a sort of wine.

Polybius identifies the land of the lotos eaters as the island of Djerba (ancient Meninx), off the coast of Tunisia. Later this identification is supported by Strabo.

## Etymology

Because the Greek word *lôtos* can refer to several different plants, there is some ambiguity as to which "lotus" appears in the *Odyssey*. Some of the proposed species, based in part on Herodotus' assertion, include:

* a fodder plant such as a species of *Trifolium*, *Melilot* or *Trigonella*, the *Lotus corniculatus*, the fellbloom, or *Medicago arborea*
* the sweet and succulent persimmon fruit of the date-plum *Diospyros lotus*
* a water-lily, either *Nymphaea lotus*, *Nymphaea caerulea*, or *Nymphaea stellata*. Recent studies[*which?*] have shown that the blue water-lily of the Nile, *Nymphaea caerulea*, also known as the blue lotus (already known under this name to the Greeks), is another candidate. It can be processed to be used as a soporific and, in some formulations, has psychotropic properties. It is common in Egyptian iconography which suggests its use in a religious context.[*citation needed*]
* the nettle-tree, *Celtis australis*
* *Ziziphus lotus*, a relative of the jujube

It is the last of these, or another member of the genus *Ziziphus*, that is traditionally taken to be the plant meant in the *Odyssey*.