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Greetings traveler! You have just stumbled upon the travel blog of the very handsome Odysseus and his merry men. We will be documenting our adventures in this blog. We hope that you would enjoy reading this blog, and that you might even be encouraged to follow in Odysseus's footsteps and kill some monsters.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

I Get High on... Lotus

Hey everyone... I’m currently in the Land of the Lotus-Eaters. You should definitely go there if you have the chance. And yes, I’m completely aware that Odysseus and his men left a loooooong time ago. I have no regrets. I even heard that all of Odysseus’s men died after eating Helios’s sacred cows. Now that sucks. Thank Zeus for lotuses...

What someone thinks the Land of the Lotus-Eaters looks like. (HINT: It doesn't really look like that.)
“Nine days then I was swept along by the force of the hostile winds on the fishy sea, but on the tenth day we landed in the country of the Lotus-Eaters, who live on a flowering food,”
The Odyssey of Homer, by Lattimore ~ Book IX, 82 to 85
Now I know that in the book by Homer (again I just heard this), it says that only three guys went to the Lotus Land. What they don’t know is that I went too.
I’m Calphineus. I would say that I’m, or at least was, a cool warrior who killed 5,000 Trojans with his bare hands, but truthfully I was kind of just their waterboy. The good thing was that I was never in much danger and I didn’t have to think of death every minute, unlike those other guys. So, yeah. I’m a waterboy and I’m proud of it.
After the last experience, I remember everyone being really upset about something... Ugh I forgot. To be honest I can’t really remember too much. I guess the lotus got to my head already. Oh yeah, a lot of people died. For some reason i didn’t care much. Or did I?
Oh good, my memory’s coming back to me. One night, Odysseus was sitting at a table with two of his men. I know this because I was the waterboy, and we ‘overhear’ a lot of things.
“Letpousa, Kadmos, would you two be able to scout this island for me?” asked Odysseus. He looked different, paler than usual and his hair was a mess.
The two guys cringed a bit.
“I know you’re still sensitive to what happened yesterday, but please,” begged Odysseus. I’d never actually seen him grovel at someone’s feet before. I could tell he was pretty distraught too.
“Alright,” replied one of the two. I didn’t know which one he was. “But we’ll need another.”
“Take Norman with you.”
The two guys didn’t complain and they left soon afterwards. Now, I think you’re saying, “You’re not Norman!” and you’re absolutely right. I snuck out of the ship right after the three. I don’t know what compelled me to do that but in my heart, I’d always wanted an adventure. I guess that was it. 
After sneaking out of the ship, I followed the trio but I didn’t want them to see me so I had to be sneaky. I actually knocked down a little fruit stand along the way (so much for being sneaky), but they didn’t notice me. That was a lucky break.
The next thing I saw blew my mind. 
It was a huge palace, made of pure white marble, with strange plants growing around the columns and beams. I took a closer look and I saw that they were lotus plants. 
This is odd, I thought to myself. I thought lotuses only grow in the water.
Because of my staring at the lotus palace, I totally lost track of the three people I was stalking. Uh oh. Next thing I knew, there were two really pretty girls on each side of me. They were both blonde and were wearing the same kind of Greek dress, and they looked as old as me, about 19. They both had a weird look on their face, like they were high or something (because they were!).
I was kind of at a loss for words so i just said the lamest thing that came to my mind.
“Uh hi, what brings you two pretty girls beside me?” I asked, in a really soft voice.
I don’t think they heard me and the said, “Want a lotus flower?” They both pulled out relatively big pink flowers, and I immediately recognized them from being from the lotus plants I’d seen earlier. 

A lotus flower
I felt weird. I didn’t know people ate those stuff at the time. “Seriously? Lotus flower? Do you think I’m a horse or something?” I quipped. I didn’t really think about that I could be considered impolite or anything.
“Come on, try it!” they began looking at me seductively. “You’ll like it.”
I gulped. How could I refuse stuff from girls like these? I took the lotus flower and ate it. The sensation I felt was like nothing I’d ever felt before. Ever tried ambrosia before? That’s the food of the gods. I never tried it but I’m sure that lotus tastes 100% better than that. I could already feel my legs growing weaker and my brain turning to mush. 
“Got any more?”
“Of course, we’ll be right back,” they replied. I decided not to bother them. I was still savoring the ethereal taste of the lotus, so I wasn’t really in any hurry. I fell back on a little chair that I swear wasn’t there 5 minutes before, but I didn’t care. I was in heaven.
A while later, I was still propped up on my chair when I saw the three men from a few minutes ago crying and being literally dragged by Odysseus out of the palace. I wanted to say something but I couldn’t. I felt content just sitting there and doing nothing even though I was sure that Odysseus would leave right after he dragged his three friends out. The creepy thing was that I looked at the sky, and even though I felt I was there for only minutes, the sky was bright, like in the morning. What time did I get there? Night.
For the longest time I can remember, I haven’t left the Land of the Lotus-Eaters. I don’t even know how long I’ve been in it. I’ve seen a lot of new guys popping up lately, wearing different clothes, speaking differently, with strange things in their hands. I guess they’re from lands that haven’t been discovered yet, but to be honest I don’t care. I only care about this stack of lotus flowers right beside my seat.

(picture 1 http://www.travelblog.org)
(picture 2 http://www.philipresheph.com/demodokos/odyssey/odyss32.jpg)


{actually written by Sean Ocier}

5 comments:

  1. Great job, Sean! I really liked it, I thought it had lots of personality and humor, good persona, and you were able to imagine a scenario that was both interesting and fit in with the actual story. Awesome. :-bd

    To critique the actions of Odysseus in this part, Odysseus wasn't actually involved here that much, but I think that he was able to restrain himself because he himself didn't take a bite of the lotus, probably because he could already predict that they were bad. I think he is also wise for sending out the three scouts because otherwise, he'd have the enormously difficult task of restraining each and every one of his men. In short, this segment showed not only Odysseus' wisdom, but also his self-control.

    - Jao

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  3. Though I usually berate and go against Odysseus in most cases, I have to admit, he was pretty awesome in this one. He was able to resist eating the lotus unlike those other followers of his, the fools (no offense, guys! I'm just stating facts). I think it takes great strength of heart to be able to restrain oneself from doing something which they know is pleasurable but could also be dangerous, especially when it's right in front of you. Bravo, Odysseus, for once you didn't screw up.

    - Eurylochos

    P.S. This doesn't mean I'm going to start worshipping Odysseus. :P (Don't tell him that)

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  4. This entry didn't really show that much of Odysseus, but in the parts that he was shown, he was portrayed as very stressed out and worried. It's most probably because he is thinking of ways to bring his men back home safely. It is shown that he feels responsible for his men that is why he was the one to pull them out of the Lotus Palace. - Edrich

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  5. So yeah I admit, we did a really crappy job. We were suppose to scout and see if the island was safe, but in the end we needed rescuing from Odysseus. i wasn't really that excited to scout since I've seen all the crazy things we've encountered in this journey. I know that if Odysseus hadn't rescued me, I would have been trapped in there for a looong time. Just leave it to Odysseus to save the day.
    -Letpousa

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