LOTUS-EATER

Greek plural Lotophagoi, Latin plural Lotophagi, in Greek mythology, one of a tribe encountered by the Greek hero Odysseus on the Libyan coast, after a north wind had driven him and his men from Cape Malea. The local inhabitants, whose distinctive practice is indicated by their name, invited Odysseus' scouts to eat of the mysterious plant. Those who did so were overcome by a blissful forgetfulness; they had to be dragged back to the ship and chained to the rowing-benches, or they would never have returned to their duties. The Greeks called several non-narcotic plants lotos, but the name may have been used in this case for the opium poppy, the ripe seed pod of which resembles the pod of the true lotus. The phrase to eat lotus is used metaphorically by numerous ancient writers to mean to forget, or to be unmindful.