Lotus Eaters Dialectical Journal

The Lotus Eaters

Death was forecasted as we propelled through the storm that awakened at our wrongdoings. “The bows went plunging at the breeze, sails cracked and lashed out strips in the big wind.” (p. 1048) Even the simple thought of one surviving through the maelstrom was inconceivable. Nine days we “drifted on the teeming sea before dangerous high winds.” (p. 1048) On the tenth day, we “came to the coastline”. After driven by a storm through rough seas, we discover the land of the Lotus Eaters, people who devour the lotus: fruit and flower. We dispatched onto the coast of the land and mingled with the natives. No direct threat to our men, our warriors, purely the lotus to eat. The Lotus Eaters told us of the delicacy, how fortunate we would be if we took a bite of just a little bit. Only one man did not eat the saccharine flower. We immediately forgot about our wants to return, our only thoughts being to consume the Lotus.
Our previous thoughts were
I used all my force, but the captain still had the ability to hold us back as greatly as we pushed. My thoughts were returning, slowly, my depression evolved into a nostalgia of the past, convincing me to try to depart home. Some took longer than I did, and I noticed how disconsolate they actually were. Even when they didn’t want to leave, they had the most morose looks in their eyes, glistening with the tears of the people trapped inside the hollow body taken from them. Slowly, leisurely, every man on the ship returned back to their original state. We conversed of our mistakes, taking a pact never to encounter the dangers of the Lotus again. I will be remembered as Alexios, a great warrior. I am one of the men who survived the Lotus, who returned from the darkest emotions. I was taken, and now, I am looked upon, a role model. Though I may not be incomparable to the great Odysseus, I am still robust, vigorous, sensible. I am Alexios, and I will