Over the course of six seasons, the ABC drama Lost gave rise to numerous – and often complex – debates amongst fans. The one question, however, that was arguably most deliberated was rather short and simple: “What is the island?”
From the very start of the series, it was obvious that the island on Lost was 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, meanwhile, 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 had been repeating “They’re all dead” for sixteen years and some sort of smoke monster in the jungle, and it’s easy to understand the obsession many fans felt regarding the island.
While there were many theories regarding Lost Island through the years, one of the most prominent was that the Oceanic Flight 815 castaways were 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.
Plato’s works are the first mentions of the civilization and all future references are derived from them. The story contained 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, meanwhile, were initially a virtuous people, “obedient to the laws, and well-affectioned towards the god.”
“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,” Plato wrote. “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 was not above taking up arms and eliminating those they perceived as a threat – the US Army in the 1950s, the Dharma Initiative in the 70s and 80s – they also came across as a virtuous people content on living and being one with both nature and their island god, Jacob.
Corruption and human nature did gain a foothold among the Others, however, just like it did in ancient Atlantis. Under the regime of Benjamin Linus, for instance, the group left the sanctuary of the jungle to live in the modernized village that the Dharma Initiative had built on the island.
Instead of huts and tents, they resided in full-fledged houses. Instead of gathering around the camp fire, they listened to CDs and held 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, said as much to Benjamin Linus during season five of Lost. “Just doesn’t seem like something the island would want,” he commented while masquerading as the dead John Locke. Earlier he made 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,” he remarked. “Seems a little corporate.”
But it wasn’t just Benjamin Linus who went astray – his predecessor as leader of the Others, Charles Widmore, was overthrown and banished from the island for similar reasons. “You left the island regularly,” Ben tells him. “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 possessed 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 Edgar 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 had its own two factions – Jacob and the Man In Black – and often made references to “two sides: one is light, one is dark,” again implying good versus evil.
The Others, meanwhile, repeatedly referred to people in the same context. Benjamin Linus, for instance, told John Locke in season two, “You’re one of the good ones,” and made a similar comment to Michael Dawson about the Others in general when he stated, “We’re the good guys.”
Plato’s Critias notes that all information about Atlantis originated from Egypt. Throughout its six seasons, Lost 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 featured on the ABC drama.
Lemuria, meanwhile, is often referred to by the alternative name Mu. Interestingly enough, if one holds down the “alt” button on a computer keyboard and types the numbers that have repeatedly been mentioned 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 digits to achieve the same effect, proving that when it comes to Lost almost anything can be construed as having significance, regardless of whether it actually does so or not.
Anthony Letizia