Devera
05-08-2006, 08:37 PM
Michael as an Orpheus-like character?
All of this assumes that you have seen episodes through Two for the Road, so if you are international and haven't seen it yet, stay away or be spoiled!
Here is a little introduction about where I'm coming from:
On the linear thread, Daheem was looking at Greek mythology in Lost. Daheem mentioned that thinking about Persephone lead to that exploration. (If you're playing or paying attention to the Lost Experience game, you will know that many people are associating the Lost Experience character known as Persephone with Danielle's daughter, Alex.)
Now, suppose we associate the Others with Hades/the mythological underworld. This makes a lot of sense. A few pieces of evidence to set this up:
a) hatches that are whole communities under ground;
b) kidnappings where characters are dragged back to the Others/Underworld;
c) a "Him"--in Greek mythology, the god Hades; in LOST, ?;
d) the repeated "ghosts" and "spirits" (ie Walt's appearance to Shannon). I'm not saying they are really dead or not, but there does seem to be an association there.
Now, Daheem mentioned that Locke and Eko may be associated with Hercules and Orpheus, who both go down into Hades for different reasons. Orpheus goes to rescue his beloved from death. Thinking about the character of Orpheus in association with Eko, I remembered that I had watched a very famous version of the story--a classic Brazilian film with subtitles called "Black Orpheus." Orpheus is also associated with the meaning "darkness." I thought that might be evidence that Eko is associated with Orpheus, but then I realized that the story fits better with Michael. Michael goes out to bring his (perhaps dead?) loved one, Walt, back. He may be under strict instructions to do something or else he will lose Walt forever. For Orpheus, he has to have faith. He is instructed not to turn around and look behind at his beloved Eurydice. However, he does look behind himself, and loses her. Orpheus is associated with music, which Michael isn't associated with, but one of Michael's most intriguing characteristics is that he is an artist. I know it might be a bit of a stretch, but I think the main idea--going back to rescue a loved one--may fit.
Some links that might prove useful in discussing this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpheus -- Wikipedia's page on Orpheus
http://www.brazilbrazil.com/orpheu.html -- Comments on the Brazilian movie Black Orpheus
Any thoughts? While writing this up, I realized that there could be some strong arguments that other characters (not only Locke and Eko, but also Charlie and Jack) could be seen as strong candidates for Orpheus for other reasons--association with music and mysticism for the first three, the name "Shepherd" in the last case as a Christ figure nod--Christ forms a similar feat when he travels down into Hell to rescue and release souls.
All of this assumes that you have seen episodes through Two for the Road, so if you are international and haven't seen it yet, stay away or be spoiled!
Here is a little introduction about where I'm coming from:
On the linear thread, Daheem was looking at Greek mythology in Lost. Daheem mentioned that thinking about Persephone lead to that exploration. (If you're playing or paying attention to the Lost Experience game, you will know that many people are associating the Lost Experience character known as Persephone with Danielle's daughter, Alex.)
Now, suppose we associate the Others with Hades/the mythological underworld. This makes a lot of sense. A few pieces of evidence to set this up:
a) hatches that are whole communities under ground;
b) kidnappings where characters are dragged back to the Others/Underworld;
c) a "Him"--in Greek mythology, the god Hades; in LOST, ?;
d) the repeated "ghosts" and "spirits" (ie Walt's appearance to Shannon). I'm not saying they are really dead or not, but there does seem to be an association there.
Now, Daheem mentioned that Locke and Eko may be associated with Hercules and Orpheus, who both go down into Hades for different reasons. Orpheus goes to rescue his beloved from death. Thinking about the character of Orpheus in association with Eko, I remembered that I had watched a very famous version of the story--a classic Brazilian film with subtitles called "Black Orpheus." Orpheus is also associated with the meaning "darkness." I thought that might be evidence that Eko is associated with Orpheus, but then I realized that the story fits better with Michael. Michael goes out to bring his (perhaps dead?) loved one, Walt, back. He may be under strict instructions to do something or else he will lose Walt forever. For Orpheus, he has to have faith. He is instructed not to turn around and look behind at his beloved Eurydice. However, he does look behind himself, and loses her. Orpheus is associated with music, which Michael isn't associated with, but one of Michael's most intriguing characteristics is that he is an artist. I know it might be a bit of a stretch, but I think the main idea--going back to rescue a loved one--may fit.
Some links that might prove useful in discussing this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpheus -- Wikipedia's page on Orpheus
http://www.brazilbrazil.com/orpheu.html -- Comments on the Brazilian movie Black Orpheus
Any thoughts? While writing this up, I realized that there could be some strong arguments that other characters (not only Locke and Eko, but also Charlie and Jack) could be seen as strong candidates for Orpheus for other reasons--association with music and mysticism for the first three, the name "Shepherd" in the last case as a Christ figure nod--Christ forms a similar feat when he travels down into Hell to rescue and release souls.