“Lotophages”, the deserters, literally
It is commonly considered that lotophages, Λωτοφάγοι were the “lotos eaters” living under the constant drug effects. The blue lotos growing in the Nile Valley could indeed produce such effects.
Interestingly, two Ulysses’ fellows were tempted to join the Lotus-eaters and revert to a primitive state, but they were forced to go back to their ship (Odyssey 9.98). Very likely, Homer describes an island of deserters. In order to understand this phenomena, one may recall recent history parallels when certain islands were becoming homes to the run-away military sailors, e.g., the Nauru island in the Pacific:
Throughout the 19th century, the island [of Nauru] was of interest to escaped convicts and sailors-deserters, who considered Nauru a place pleasant in all respects. So they even named it the Pleasant Island. The local inhabitants, which did not number even a thousand people, according to the testimony of contemporaries, were ‘constantly drunk from coconut wine’, and received the new settlers so cordially that in 1881 one of the convicts became the king of the island.
It is also probable that the myth about the lotophages could have been incorporated into the Odyssey from the different seafaring places (that could have had conditions similar to Nauru island, in the remote times). As regards the lotus - it is worth mentioning the ancient illustrations and figurines (in Egypt, in Crete) containing images with poppies and blue lotus flowers - the latter well known for their drug intoxicating effects. The blue lotus grows in East Africa (from the Nile Valley to the extreme south of the continent), in India and in Thailand.
If we are dealing with the possible compilation of the many stories in the Iliad and Odyssey, and the introduction of Mediterranean details into the originally northern epic, then it turns out to be not so illogical for Ulysses to undertake a journey from Schliemann's Troy, attacking the Turkish city of Izmir on the way (corresponding to Homeric Ismar), taking a further route to the Greek Cape Malea, and being blown away off the course to the Greek Ithaca by a sudden contrary wind, and appearing in the Nile estuary with the opiate blue lotuses growing there. Nevertheless, in the following tales of Ulysses, we find ourselves clearly in the north of the Atlantic.
Yet it may have been that the lotophages, Λωτοφάγοι were not even “the eaters” of some “lotos” (as the Greeks literally took their name from the inherited foreign myths), but had an original literal meaning of “the run-away sailors, deserters, quitters” - which also well explains why Ulysses had to use force to bring the two of his sailors who wished to stay on the island of lotophages, back to his ship.
As in many other cases, the Baltic-Finnic languages come as a help to understand the meaning of lotophages name, in particular, Est. lodev, lodeva, lodevakas; lõtv, lõtvakas - “loose, loosened, relaxed, weak, flabby, hanging out, lazy” (e.g. lodev poiss - “a weak-willed boy”; lodevine - “a loose behavior”; lodev kord - “a loose discipline”); Est. loid, gen. loiu, part. loidu, Fin. loitia - “lethargic, flabby, relaxed”; Est. loidu(ma) - “become lethargic, go limp”, Est. loidus - “lethargy, relaxation, apathy, indifference”.
Compare also to archaic Russian лытать [lytat’] - “to refrain, to abstain (from working or military service)”; Rus. лодырь [lodyr’], Ukrainian ледарь, лодар [ledar’, lodar], Est. looder, Old German lodder, lode - “a lazy~loose person, a quitter, a loafer”; Ingush леде, леду, ледир [lede, ledu, ledir] - “to cheat”; Ingush ледар [ledar] - “cheating; negligent”; etc.
Interestingly, two Ulysses’ fellows were tempted to join the Lotus-eaters and revert to a primitive state, but they were forced to go back to their ship (Odyssey 9.98). Very likely, Homer describes an island of deserters. In order to understand this phenomena, one may recall recent history parallels when certain islands were becoming homes to the run-away military sailors, e.g., the Nauru island in the Pacific:
Throughout the 19th century, the island [of Nauru] was of interest to escaped convicts and sailors-deserters, who considered Nauru a place pleasant in all respects. So they even named it the Pleasant Island. The local inhabitants, which did not number even a thousand people, according to the testimony of contemporaries, were ‘constantly drunk from coconut wine’, and received the new settlers so cordially that in 1881 one of the convicts became the king of the island.
It is also probable that the myth about the lotophages could have been incorporated into the Odyssey from the different seafaring places (that could have had conditions similar to Nauru island, in the remote times). As regards the lotus - it is worth mentioning the ancient illustrations and figurines (in Egypt, in Crete) containing images with poppies and blue lotus flowers - the latter well known for their drug intoxicating effects. The blue lotus grows in East Africa (from the Nile Valley to the extreme south of the continent), in India and in Thailand.
If we are dealing with the possible compilation of the many stories in the Iliad and Odyssey, and the introduction of Mediterranean details into the originally northern epic, then it turns out to be not so illogical for Ulysses to undertake a journey from Schliemann's Troy, attacking the Turkish city of Izmir on the way (corresponding to Homeric Ismar), taking a further route to the Greek Cape Malea, and being blown away off the course to the Greek Ithaca by a sudden contrary wind, and appearing in the Nile estuary with the opiate blue lotuses growing there. Nevertheless, in the following tales of Ulysses, we find ourselves clearly in the north of the Atlantic.
Yet it may have been that the lotophages, Λωτοφάγοι were not even “the eaters” of some “lotos” (as the Greeks literally took their name from the inherited foreign myths), but had an original literal meaning of “the run-away sailors, deserters, quitters” - which also well explains why Ulysses had to use force to bring the two of his sailors who wished to stay on the island of lotophages, back to his ship.
As in many other cases, the Baltic-Finnic languages come as a help to understand the meaning of lotophages name, in particular, Est. lodev, lodeva, lodevakas; lõtv, lõtvakas - “loose, loosened, relaxed, weak, flabby, hanging out, lazy” (e.g. lodev poiss - “a weak-willed boy”; lodevine - “a loose behavior”; lodev kord - “a loose discipline”); Est. loid, gen. loiu, part. loidu, Fin. loitia - “lethargic, flabby, relaxed”; Est. loidu(ma) - “become lethargic, go limp”, Est. loidus - “lethargy, relaxation, apathy, indifference”.
Compare also to archaic Russian лытать [lytat’] - “to refrain, to abstain (from working or military service)”; Rus. лодырь [lodyr’], Ukrainian ледарь, лодар [ledar’, lodar], Est. looder, Old German lodder, lode - “a lazy~loose person, a quitter, a loafer”; Ingush леде, леду, ледир [lede, ledu, ledir] - “to cheat”; Ingush ледар [ledar] - “cheating; negligent”; etc.