"The Lotus-Eaters"

I thought that the final stanza of “The Lotus-Eaters” was the most interesting. At the beginning of the poem, the mariners are told by Odysseus to be courageous and they come upon an island where the Lotos-eaters live. These people offer the mariners fruit and they take it to eat. The last stanza makes us believe that the mariners miss their homeland. On page 624 lines 39-40 the poem states, “And sweet it was to dream of Fatherland, of child, and wife, and slave…” These lines allude to the fact that the sailors actually do miss their families. They have something to look forward to coming home to, so why do they choose to stay on the island? Lines 42-43 on page 624 of the poem state, “Weary the wandering fields of barren foam, then one said, “We will return no more.’” This part of the poem was really confusing for me because the stanza starts out talking about how much the mariners miss their families and slaves, and then it ends in telling us that the mariners decided to stay on the island. I think that the mariners are really tired of their voyage on the sea. In other poems and stories we have read in class, like “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and “Frankenstein,” mariners are also characters and they don’t ever seem to be particularly happy. I think the fruit from the lotus-people in “The Lotus-Eaters” is symbolic of the mariners’ weariness, which leads to resignation or even depression. They think that the voyage home just isn’t worth it and may never even be a reality. The mariners are content to stay on the island and simply dream of returning home.

What other factors may cause the mariners to want to stay on the island instead of returning home?

Why do you think the Lotus people shared their fruit?