lotophagus

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Lōtophagus, from Ancient Greek Λωτοφάγος (Lōtophágos, literally “lotus eater”).

Why this word is great

LOTOPHAGUS — [Noun] A member of the Lotophagi; one who consumes the lotus plant, as described in Greek mythology, inducing dreamy forgetfulness and languid inertia. From Latin Lōtophagus, from Ancient Greek Λωτοφάγος (Lōtophágos, literally 'lotus eater'), from λωτός (lōtós, 'lotus') + -φάγος (-phágos, 'eater'). Unlike a "hedonist" (who chases pleasure in all its forms) or an "ascetic" (who spurns it entirely), the lotophagus is a creature of singular surrender, dissolving into the lotus's honeyed haze. It is the sailor who forgets his homeland, the wanderer who abandons his quest, the thinker who lets his thoughts drift like petals on a still pond—a quiet abdication of striving, a sweet and sorrowful end to wanting.

noun

A member of the Lotophagi; a lotus eater.“It will be acquiesced in by a much less deserving band, if band it may be called, when each fights for his own hand, without respect to his neighbour, by those who have set their hearts and their treasures in this world, and exert what powers of thought they in devising a sickly optimism, by which the existing state of things, whatever it may be, may be made into a fool's paradise — men of whom Ch”