Section 3, The Lotus-Eaters Summary

Libya is the land where Morpheus, the dream god, plays. Morpheus' father, Hypnos, mixes colors of sleep for Morpheus; Hypnos refers to sleep as a little death. Persephone, Morpheus' aunt, provides him with dreams to give to humans. Morpheus is fascinated with dreams and convinces his aunt to make the lotus-flower which lures people to dream. Morpheus plants the lotus-flower in Libya where the people do nothing but eat the flowers and sleep. When the Hellenes land in Libya, they dock and sleep on the shore. Meanwhile, the hospitable lotus-eaters pile lotus-flowers around the Hellenes to eat. As the Hellenes awake, they eat the flowers and return to sleep. Morpheus hovers around the Hellenes, fading their nightmares into sweet dreams of home. Morpheus sees Ulysses but cannot help the hero's nightmares. Morpheus reads Ulysses' horrible dreams of monsters. Ulysses...