Approximate location of the Kikones

Cicones is also a genus of cylindrical bark beetles.

The Cicones, Ciconians or Kikonians, (Greek: Κίκονες) were a Homeric Thracian^[1] tribe, whose stronghold in the time of Odysseus was the town of Ismara (or Ismarus), located at the foot of mount Ismara,^[2] on the south^[3] coast of Thrace (modern Greece). They are mentioned in book two of the Iliad as having joined the war on the side of the Trojans, led by Euphemos. In book nine of the Odyssey written by Homer, Odysseus and his men take Ismara by surprise and slay most of the Ciconian men they come across, taking Ciconian women as slaves. Later Ciconian reinforcements arrive and attack the invading Achaeans, killing so many of them that Odysseus and his men are forced to flee in their ships. Six men of each of Odysseus' ships were killed:

"When I had set sail thence the wind took me first to Ismarus, which is the city of the Cicons. There I sacked the town and put the people to the sword. We took their wives and also much booty, which we divided equitably amongst us, so that none might have reason to complain. I then said that we had better make off at once, but my men very foolishly would not obey me, so they stayed there drinking much wine and killing great numbers of sheep and oxen on the sea shore. Meanwhile the Cicons cried out for help to other Cicons who lived inland. These were more in number, and stronger, and they were more skilled in the art of war, for they could fight, either from chariots or on foot as the occasion served; in the morning, therefore, they came as thick as leaves and bloom in summer, and the hand of heaven was against us, so that we were hard pressed. They set the battle in array near the ships, and the hosts aimed their bronze-shod spears at one another. So long as the day waxed and it was still morning, we held our own against them, though they were more in number than we; but as the sun went down, towards the time when men loose their oxen, the Cicons got the better of us, and we lost half a dozen men from every ship we had; so we got away with those that were left.^[4]

The Cicones are also referred to in the book of poems Metamorphoses by Ovid. They are mentioned in book VI when he writes of Boreas and Orithyia, when Ovid states:

"He bore her off; and as he flew he felt the flames of love gain force on force; he did not curbe his course across the air until he 'd reach the north the lands and city of the Cicones"^[5]

In classical times and in a historical context they go into obscurity. Non mythical instances of them occur in Herodotus (5th century BC) as he writes of their land that Xerxes's army passed by.^[6] The tribe itself is thought to have disappeared early on.^[7]

References[link]

See also[link]

• Orpheus
• Linus
• List of ancient tribes in Thrace and Dacia

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Thracians

Odysseus removing his men from the company of the lotus-eaters

In Greek mythology, the lotus-eaters (Greek λωτοφάγοι, lōtophagoi), also referred to as the lotophagi or lotophaguses (singular lotophagus /ləˈtɒfəɡəs/) or lotophages (singular lotophage /ˈloʊtəfeɪdʒ/), were a race of people living on an island near North Africa (possibly Djerba) dominated by lotus plants. The lotus fruits and flowers were the primary food of the island and were narcotic, causing the people to sleep in peaceful apathy.

In literature[link]

In Odyssey IX, Odysseus tells how adverse north winds blew him and his men off course as they were rounding Cape Malea, the southernmost tip of the Peloponnesus, headed westwards for Ithaca:

"I was driven thence by foul winds for a space of 9 days upon the sea, but on the tenth day we reached the land of the Lotus-eaters, who live on a food that comes from a kind of flower. Here we landed to take in fresh water, and our crews got their mid-day meal on the shore near the ships. When they had eaten and drunk I sent two of my company to see what manner of men the people of the place might be, and they had a third man under them. They started at once, and went about among the Lotus-eaters, who did them no hurt, but gave them to eat of the lotus, which was so delicious that those who ate of it left off caring about home, and did not even want to go back and say what had happened to them, but were for staying and munching lotus with the Lotus-eaters without thinking further of their return; nevertheless, though they wept bitterly I forced them back to the ships and made them fast under the benches. Then I told the rest to go on board at once, lest any of them should taste of the lotus and leave off wanting to get home, so they took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars."^[1]

This passage served as the source for Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem "The Lotos-Eaters." It is also referenced in the fifth chapter of Ulysses by James Joyce, also titled "Lotus Eaters," and in the sixth chapter of Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence.

Herodotus, in the fifth century BC, was sure that the lotus-eaters still existed in his day, in coastal Libya:

A promontory jutting out into the sea from the country of the Gindanes is inhabited by the lotus-eaters, who live entirely on the fruit of the lotus-tree. The lotus fruit is about the size of the lentisk berry,^[2] and in sweetness resembles the date. The lotus-eaters even succeed in obtaining from it a sort of wine.^[3]

The lotus plant[link]

Because the Greek word lôtos can refer to several different plants, there is some ambiguity as to which "lotus" appears in the Odyssey. Some of the proposed species, based in part on Herodotus' assertion, include:^[4]

• a fodder plant such as a species of Trifolium, Melilot or Trigonella, the Lotus corniculatus, the fellbloom, or Medicago arborea
• the sweet and succulent persimmon fruit of the date-plum Diospyros lotus
• a water-lily, either Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea caerulea, or Nymphaea stellata. Recent studies have shown that the blue water-lily of the Nile, Nymphaea caerulea, also known as the blue lotus (already known under this name to the Greeks), is another candidate. It can be processed to be used as a soporific and, in some formulations, has psychotropic properties. It is common in Egyptian iconography which suggests its use in a religious context.^{[citation needed]}
• the nettle-tree, Celtis australis
• Ziziphus lotus, a relative of the jujube

It is the last of these, or another member of the genus Ziziphus, that is traditionally taken to be the plant meant in the Odyssey.

• 

  Fenugreek seeds.

• 

  Nymphaea lotus.

• 

  Lotus corniculatus.

• 

  Seeds of Nelumbo nucifera.

• 

  Celtis australis.

• 

  Fresh fruits of jujube.

• 

  Nymphaea caerulea.

Location of the island of the lotus-eaters[link]

A.D. Godley asserted in his notes on Herodotus, that the island is located near the coast of northern Africa.^{[citation needed]}

Notes[link]