lotus-eaters or Lotophagi, a fabulous people who occupied the north coast of Africa and lived on the lotus, which brought forgetfulness and happy indolence. They appear in the Odyssey. When Odysseus landed among them, some of his men ate the food. They forgot their friends and home and had to be dragged back to the ships. "The Lotus-Eaters" by Tennyson has become a classic of English poetry.