The
Lost
Theory
of Atlantis
The Los Angeles Times’ Showtracker
blog published a list of forty-eight unanswered questions regard the
ABC drama Lost in lieu of the show’s fourth season in
January 2008. While the list ran the gambit from “what do the
numbers mean?” to “why doesn’t Richard Alpert age?”
the number one mystery was simple and to the point: “What is the
island?” On a show that has often portrayed the piece of land
that the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 find themselves stranded on
as a character in its own right—the line “the island isn’t
finished with you yet” has been spoken many times—the question
is both valid and just as fascinating as the island itself.
From the
very start of the series, it was obvious that the island on Lost
is different than the rest of the world. The weather could change from
bright and sunny to dark and rainy in an instant. Despite both the tail
and cockpit sections breaking off mid-air, the majority of the passengers
in the middle section of the plane survived the crash with minor bumps
and bruises. Then there was John Locke, who had been paralyzed and in
a wheel chair for four years before regaining his ability to walk after
the tragedy. Add an eerie message broadcast in French that has been
repeating “they’re all dead” for sixteen years and
some sort of monster living in the jungle, and its easy to understand
why Showtracker chose the question it did for the number one
spot.
While there
have been many theories regarding Lost Island through the years,
one of the most prominent has been that the Oceanic Flight 815 castaways
are stranded on the lost continent of Atlantis. The story of the mythical
land mass was originally told by the Greek philosopher Plato in his
dialogues Timaeus and Critias. While many scholars
believe Atlantis was fictional and only used by Plato as an allegory,
others believe the island actually existed. Regardless, Plato’s
works are the first mentions of the civilization and all other references
are derived from them. The story told in Critias is an extension
of Greek mythology, with the sea god Poseidon given domain over Atlantis
and passing it on to his future offsprings. Atlanteans were initially
a virtuous people, “obedient to the laws, and well-affectioned
towards the god.”
As transcribed
on Wikipedia,
Plato writes, “They possessed true and in every way great spirits,
uniting gentleness with wisdom in the various chances of life, and in
their intercourse with one another. They despised everything but virtue,
caring little for their present state of life, and thinking lightly
of the possession of gold and other property, which seemed only a burden
to them; neither were they intoxicated by luxury; nor did wealth deprive
them of their self-control; but they were sober, and saw clearly that
all these goods are increased by virtue and friendship with one another.”
Somewhere
along the way, however, the people of Atlantis strayed and eventually
became a corrupt warrior race bent on domination. “When the divine
portion began to fade away,” Plato continues, “and became
diluted too often and too much with the mortal admixture, and the human
nature got the upper hand, they then, being unable to bear their fortune,
behaved unseemly.” The gods apparently intervened at this point,
sinking the island via a series of earthquakes and floods.
In many
ways, Plato’s version of Atlantis’ population has similarities
to the Others, the mysterious inhabitors of Lost Island. Although
the group is not above taking up arms and eliminating those they perceive
as a threat—the US Army in the 1950s, the Dharma Initiative in
the 70s and 80s—they also come across as a virtuous people content
on living and being one with both nature and their island god, Jacob.
Corruption
and human nature do take a foothold among the Others, however, just
like it did in ancient Atlantis. Under the regime of Benjamin Linus,
for instance, the group leaves the sanctuary of the jungle to live in
the modernized village that the Dharma Initiative built on the island.
Instead of huts and tents, they reside in full-fledged houses. Instead
of gathering around the camp fire, they listen to CD and join book club
gatherings in comfy living rooms. While there is nothing wrong with
that kind of life per say, it is still vastly different than the “thinking
lightly of the possession of gold and other property” that the
citizens of Atlantis initially exhibited.
Jacob’s
otherworldly rival, the Man In Black, even says so much to Ben during
season five. “Just doesn’t seem like something the island
would want,” he comments while masquerading as the dead John Locke.
Earlier he makes a similar observation regarding Ben’s use of
a Dharma office as his own: “I never pictured you leading your
people from behind a desk. Seems a little corporate.”
But it’s
not just Benjamin Linus who goes astray—his predecessor as leader
of the Others, Charles Widmore, is overthrown and banished from the
island for similar reasons. “You left the island regularly,”
Ben tells him as he is about to leave. “You had a daughter with
an outsider. You broke the rules, Charles.”
While Plato’s
account of Atlantis focuses on its society and mythological roots, the
legend of Atlantis has grown over the millennia to include a population
that had a superior wisdom in both the realms of magic and technology.
The major proponent of this mystical Atlantis was the author Edgar Cayce,
who lived from 1877 to 1945. Cayce claimed to have had psychic readings
that affirmed the existence of both Atlantis and Lemuria, another ancient
island civilization thought to be in the Pacific Ocean. His descriptions
of these two lost continents include supernatural phenomenon that are
similar to the island on Lost: prophetic dreams, ESP and interaction
with the dead.
The self-proclaimed
clairvoyant also wrote about the “duality of man” in many
of his works. According to Cayce, both Atlantean and Lemurian societies
were divided into two political factions—a good faction, called
the “Sons of the Law of One” and an evil faction called
the “Sons of Belial.” Lost has its own two factions—Jacob
and the Man In Black—and has often made references to “two
sides: one is light, one is dark,” again implying good versus
evil. The Others, meanwhile, have repeatedly referred to people in the
same context. Benjamin Linus, for instance, tells John Locke in season
two, “You’re one of the good ones,” and makes a similar
comment to Michael Dawson about the Others in general: “We’re
the good guys.”
Plato’s
Critias notes that all information about Atlantis originated from Egypt.
Throughout its six seasons, Lost has featured many ancient
edifices—from temples to four-toed statues—that reflect
Egyptian influence as well, adding to the possibility of Atlantis indeed
being the same island that is featured on the ABC drama. Then again,
it could simply be a matter of coincidence. Lemuria, for example, is
often referred to by an alternative name: Mu. Interestingly enough,
if one holds down the “alt” button on a computer keyboard
and types the numbers that have repeatedly been seen on Lost—4
8 15 16 23 42—into Note Pad, the Greek symbol for the letter Mu
appears.
In actuality,
however, it only takes the last four of those numbers to achieve the
same effect, proving that when it comes to Lost almost anything
and everything can ultimately be construed as having significance.
Anthony
Letizia (March 15, 2010)
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