Greek mythology: origins, themes, and cultural significance

¶ … Lotus-Eaters: From Literature to Television

Greek myths have long been utilized as backdrops and inspirations for various works of arts from literature to popular media such as television programming. The myth of the Lotus-eaters, or the lotophagi, was first popularized in the epic poem The Odyssey which details Odysseus's quest to return to Ithaca, his home, after having participated in the siege of Troy. Alfred Tennyson used the lotus-eaters myth as the basis for his 1832 poem "The Lotos-Eaters." Moreover, the lotus-eaters myth was referenced in the 2011 season premiere of the television show True Blood. The lotus-eaters have inspired great works of literature, such as Tennyson's "The Lotos-Eaters," as well as popular media as in the case of HBO's True Blood.

In Tennyson's "The Lotos-Eaters," the unnamed Odysseus addresses his crew and provides reasons as to why they would indulge in eating the lotus flower. The poem is written in two distinguishable parts; the first part is a descriptive narrative, while the second part is written as an eight-stanza song. In the poem, one of Odysseus's reasons for allowing himself and his crew to indulge in the lotus flower was that they had been working and fighting non-stop for ten years. He wonders "why [they] are weighed upon with heaviness/And utterly consumed with sharp distress/While all things else have rest from weariness?" (Tennyson). Odysseus is advocating the use of the flower as an escape from reality, which has truthfully been full of hardship for him and his men. Though it appears as though Odysseus has given up on his quest of returning to Ithaca, he simply wants some time to rest. Odysseus admits that "death is the end of life" however wonders "why should life all labour be?" (Tennyson). The poem concludes with Odysseus and his men resigning to the fact that they may never return to Ithaca and tells his men "oh rest ye, brother mariners, we will not wander more" (Tennyson).

Similarly in the television show True Blood, the myth of the Lotus-eaters is adapted to the story. In the season four premiere episode "She's Not There," Sookie Stackhouse, the main protagonist, has recently discovered that she is a fairy and has been whisked away to another dimension ("She's Not There"). One of the things that she notices in this alternate world is how enchanted the people appear to be. She also notices that they have been enchanted fruit from the trees in the alternate dimension. It is also during this time that she spots her grandfather who mysteriously disappeared more than twenty years prior. When they are reunited, her grandfather realizes that though he feels as though he has only been there a few minutes, he has, in reality, been trapped in the alternate dimension for more than twenty years. By eating the fruit in this alternate world, the people that have been taken there by fairies have forgotten about their lives on Earth and do not realize how long they have been gone from their homes ("She's Not There"). Moreover, the myth of the lotus-eaters is combined with the rape of Persephone. Though Sookie refuses to eat any of the fruit offered to her, as she noticed the fruit's intoxicating effect on others, she is informed that anyone that has eaten the fruit cannot return to Earth and that they are doomed to spend the rest of their lives in the fairy world. Soon after Sookie reveals to her grandfather her suspicions regarding the fruit and the fairies that appear to be guarding all the people that ate the fruit, her life is endangered and she must escape. Because she has not eaten any of the fruit, Sookie can safely return to Earth, whereas her grandfather, who helps her escape, dies soon after he returns to Earth.