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LOTUS
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LOTUS , a popular name applied to several See also:plants. The lotus fruits of the Greeks belonged to Zizyphus Lotus, a See also:bush native in See also:south See also:Europe with fruits as large as sloes, containing a mealy substance which can be used for making See also:bread and also a fermented drink. In See also:ancient times the fruits were an important See also:article of See also:food among the poor; whence " lotophagi " or lotus-eaters. Zizyphus is a member of the natural See also:order Rhamnaceae to which belongs the See also:British See also:buckthorn. The See also:Egyptian lotus was a See also:water-See also:lily, Nymphaea Lotus; as also is the sacred lotus of the See also:Hindus, Nelumbium speciosum. The lotus See also:tree, known to the See also:Romans as the Libyan lotus, and planted by them for shade, was probably Celtis australis, the See also:nettle-tree (q.v.), a See also:southern See also:European tree, a native of the See also:elm See also:family, with fruits like small cherries, which are first red and then See also:black. Lotus of botanists is a genus of the See also:pea-family (See also:Leguminosae), containing a large number of See also:species of herbs and undershrubs widely distributed in the temperate regions of the old See also:world. It is represented in See also:Britain by L. corniculatus, See also:bird's See also:foot See also:trefoil, a See also:low-growing See also:herb, See also:common in pastures and See also:waste places, with clusters of small See also:bright yellow pea-like See also:flowers, which are often streaked with See also:crimson; the popular name is derived from the pods which when ripe spread like the toes of a bird's foot. LOTUS-EATERS (Gr. Atoros/6.yol), a Libyan tribe known to the Greeks as See also:early as the See also:time of See also:Homer. See also:Herodotus (iv. 177) describes their See also:country as in the Libyan See also:district bordering on the Syrtes, and says that a See also:caravan route led from it to See also:Egypt. See also:Victor See also:Berard identifies it with the See also:modern See also:Jerba. When See also:Odysseus reached the country of the Lotophagi, many of his sailors after eating the lotus lost all wish to return See also:home. Both Greeks and Romans used the expression " to eat the lotus " to denote forgetfulness (cf. See also:Tennyson's poem " The Lotus-Eaters "). There has been considerable discussion as to the See also:identification of the Homeric lotus. Some have held that it is a prickly See also:shrub, Zizyphus Lotus, which bears a sweet-tasting See also:fruit, and still grows in the old home of the Lotophagi. It is eaten by the natives, who also make a See also:kind of See also:wine from the juice. P. Charupault (Pheniciens et Grecs en Italie d'apres l'Odyssee, p. 400, See also:note 2), however, maintains that the lotus was a date; Victor Berard (See also:Les Pheniciens et l'Odyssee, 1902–1903, ii. 102) is doubtful, but contends that it was certainly a tree-fruit. If either of these be correct, then the lotus of Od. iv. 603–604 is quite a different plant, a kind of See also:clover. Now See also:Strabo (xvii. 829a) calls the lotus a6av See also:lava icai Xi-ay. Putting these two references together with Sulpicius See also:Severus, Dialogi i. 4. 4, R. M. See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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