¶ … 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...
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…
