“Odysseus wuz here”
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By danlitwin
- “Odysseus wuz here”
- Created: Jun 18, 2006
- Last updated: Aug 14, 2008
- After episode: 2.23: Live Together, Die Alone
- Status: Current
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Not to mention that he found some islands quite impossible to leave, staying for seven years on one. Again, it sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
— danlitwin
I believe that the island was one of the ancient mystical isles that Odysseus (in Homer’s “Odyssey”) was lost among for decades trying to return home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. Several pieces of evidence lead me to believe this, but the first and foremost is the four-toed remnant of a giant sandaled statue, already noted in the last Lost podcast by the show’s creators to be emblematic of the pre-DHARMA history of the island.
The four toes can easily be explained away if one assumes that the ancient gods were not always 100% humanoid.
Further evidence (the one that made me think of it) comes from one of the books of the Lost Canon, “Bad Twin”. In Chapter 4, we are told the main character’s dog is named Argos, specifically mentioned to be the dog that waited at home for Odysseus while he was lost among the “mystical isles of the ancient world.” Such references in the book seem rarely to be coincidental.
Another piece of evidence that I just realized is the name of Odysseus’ wife, who waited for many many years for him to come home, fighting off any suitors that came her way, faithful until the end, never believing her true love was dead. Know what her name was? Penelope. Does her experience sound anything like that of Penelope Widmore, Desmond’s true love, who apparently ditched her suitor (still had the picture of Dez on her nightstand and had no ring)?
It actually kind of makes some sense, if you think about it. Odysseus was lost among many different crazy islands with crazy weird witches and magic. Not to mention that he found some islands quite impossible to leave, staying for seven years on one. Again, it sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Of course, this could all be a coincidence, or Penny Widmore may just have yet another appropriately literary name (i.e. Locke, Rousseau, etc.). But it would be a pretty creative history for the creators to give the island.
Key characters
| Short Name | Full Name | Episodes | Theories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charles | Charles Widmore | 406 | |
| Desmond | Desmond David Hume | 2.23, 3.17, 4.5 | 851 |
| Penny | Penny Widmore | 3.8 | 251 |
Key episodes
| # | Title | Aired | Central character | Theories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.23 | Live Together, Die Alone | 5-24-2006 | Desmond | 321 |
Key events
| Theme | Relevant Episodes | Theories |
|---|---|---|
| Four Toed Statue | 204 |
Similar theories
| Title | Author | Cmnts | Votes | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four Toed Statue, and seven days ago.. | BadTwin | 9 | 4 | 0 |
| Island = Hades? | cxl | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Penny for some love | BadTwin | 3 | 1 | −1 |
Good history lesson, I think it is very likely. For an island of this special nature it would have to have a long history. (the four toed statue for example). perhaps Odysseus inhabitated the magical island long before the Dharma Initiative, or perhaps the Dharma Initiative has been around for a long time and they are the current inhabitants, spawned by Odysseus and carrying on the purpose of the island generations later.
Did you ever stop to think that it may be the Atlantis? Atlantis is steeped in Greek mythology? Good theory.
I don’t know if this is actual history in which the show will touch or just a shot out to the fans whom want to know as much about the island as possible. I don’t believe this theory will ever be proved or disproved because the shows focus will remain (I believe) the last fifty years.
But wouldn’t it be cool is the series ended with an Island flash back?
Heh… I like this idea.
This could be true. If my theory of the space time rift is true, perhaps Penny has figured out that the rift exists, just as Dharma did, and is able to harness it. This would allow Dharma to go back in time to any point, and create the facility on the island at any point in time they like.
Alternitively perhaps the rift itself opens to different times allowing remnants of those times to enter the time on the island when we are told the story of our castaways.
Either way, good stuff.
Great therory! kudos for being in touch with history enough to pull this one out. I think desmond plays more of a role in this whole thing than we realize…
While Odysseus was away, Penelope fended off 108 suitors. And with those suitors came a total of 8 servants.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penelope#Location
Rated:
Creativity 3: These references are well documented on lostpedia.
Likelihood 5: The stories of Odysseus and Desmond are too similar for this to be a coincidence, especially given the number of suitors and servants who came to Penelope in the original Greek work.
Overall 4: I have one problem with this theory, which is that it may define Desmond as the singular hero of LOST. While certainly possible (and indeed maybe even probable), there is definitely a signifcant argument for other characters to be the hero (Locke, Jack, Sawyer, Christian, Ben, Hugo, etc.), or for there to be multiple heroes.
Thats excellent! I am a big greek-mythology geek and i love the Odyssey. Penelope waited for years for him, not settling for anyone else. In some versions she actually sent ppl out to look for him- just like Des.
And he had been detained by an island he couldnt leave and stuff. thats a really great link, well done!
Great theory. While it wouldn’t be one of the islands that Odysseus visited exactly, since it’s definitely not in the Mediterranean and all, it could definitely be a similar idea. Maybe it’s inspired by the Odyssey?
very well put together theory I think its likely this wasn’t an accident, but it is probably more of a metaphorical background then an actual situation that it is from The Odyssey
Of course Desmond is Odyssious. I think that there are also other themes and story cycles that are being played out within Lost. We even have a cyclops to remind us. Of course, killing the cyclops was a very bad move on the part of Odyssious since it pissed off Poisidon. All the stories that Lost has within it are stories about Journeys, even Alice in Wonderland is a Journey. Its important because we know that the charachters are going somewhere. They are likely going home, ultimately.
I agree that the Lost creators are drawing heavily on the Odyssey as well as the Atlantis myth to frame a chunk of the story. See http://www.atlantia.de/atlantis_english/myth/empire/atlantishomerodyssee.htm for comparisons between Scheria in the Odyssey, and Atlantis. And at least one documented “famed psychic” believed Atlantis would re-emerge around 1968 (thus Dharma, the VW bus, and other references to the early 70’s). From Wikipedia: “Famed psychic Edgar Cayce first mentioned Atlantis in a life reading given in 1923,[12] and later gave its geographical location as the Caribbean, and proposed that Atlantis was an ancient, now-submerged, highly-evolved civilization which had ships and aircraft powered by a mysterious form of energy crystal. He also predicted that parts of Atlantis would rise in 1968 or 1969. The Bimini Road, found by Dr.J Manson Valentine, was a submarine geological formation just off North Bimini Island, discovered in 1968, has been claimed by some to be evidence of the lost civilization (among many other things) and is still being explored today.”
It seems the writers of lost have read up on many subjects. Everyday i see a new posting on how lost can relate to the Oddysious, the Devils Triangle ro some other history myth, story or book and I love it, I thin all the theories are right. lost is the perfect blend of all these mysteries which is what makes lost so great and easy to get lost in. they have borrowed from al the great mysetries to create a mega mystery!
I like it….it’s amazing….this also might mean that desmond will stay on the island. think about how the writters have said some will lieave the island and some will not. it might be possible that desmond will stay on the island. Espesically since if desmond get’s back to Penelope he will either die or be off the show…..the people who have no more conflict seem to die.
I think the writers are making a definite allusion to faithful Penelope, waiting forever for wayward Odysseus. And they’re modernizing her character by making her pro-active: she looks for her man. Homecoming is also a theme. But I don’t think te connection with Greek history and mythology goes beyond a thematic level.
Also, the Greeks never made four-toed statues, because even the earliest, most primitive Greek statues (e.g. kouroi sculptures) are obsesses with accurate human anatomy.
I commenting here hoping others will return to it and resurrect it and acknowledge it as a very likely reference the writers are using to write Desmond’s Odyssey.
I think it is a great theory. Let’s not forget however that instead of basing the whole story on the island being one of the fabled islands from the oddysey, it is possible that the writers are just using the story line for des and penelope as oddysius and penelope to allow the informed viewers to fully delve into the tragic story of des and penelope. This allows us to get the back story of Des and penelope a lot easier so the show can spend more time on the real mysteries of the island. It actually is a writing method for shows or movies that have a lot of charachters. They use connections with previous literrary charachters to explain the story of their charachter so the informed viewer can focus on the real plot of the story.
I agree that this could be an example of one of the epic historic accounts which the writers have drawn upon, at the same time the cynic in me thinks that for every idea that the writers come up with and every storyline they run there will be ‘similar’ stories that have been told.
I do however like the idea of flashbacks and flashforwards going further back and even further forward so we can learn about the island itself. I would like to be corrected and for there to be some genuine real life histotical links which are later revealed. I still believe that the substance or ‘core’ of the island holds the key the all the mysteries, there is something in the middle of it which is very powerful and this is what is being fought over.
Also what was the significance of the ‘spider episode’ where the two rather new characters were buried alive? Sorry to go off the point but I am dying to know? Maybe they are going to come back to life due to the power of the island? As will all the others who have died?
Was there any account of life giving, or everlasting life in the time of Odysseus? He must have had a few bumps and scrapes during his journey but he still made it back,,, didn’t he? and also is there any account of his stories after he had settled in after his return?
Sorry for all the questions but from surfing this forum I believe I am engaged with some great minds ; )
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Good theory