El Dorado

El Dorado El Dorado

The City of Myths

The Legend Begins

• The original legend appears to have begun around 1530-1540

• It was started as a story called El Hombre Dorado or the golden man. This referred to a South American chieftain who was immensely wealthy and covered himself in gold dust.

Why?

• The reason for such an eccentric royal custom has been unclear.

• The most commonly thought reason was for symbolic religious reasons.

• Mainly the rituals of the Musica have been the suggested.

The Tragedy • Raleigh returned to

England, where King James ordered him beheaded for, among other things, disobeying orders to avoid conflict with the Spanish.

• Watt Raleigh expedition was a disaster, and Watt Raleigh was killed in a battle with the Spaniards.

• Raleigh returned to England, where King James ordered him to be beheaded for, disobeying orders to avoid conflict with the Spanish.

What people thought• Because of the things that

he did people supposed that there would be a Golden Kingdom and a city or even country where gold was abundant. This kingdom was known to the natives as Manoa or Omoa.

• Over the years a number of explorers, looters, and invaders attempted to discover El Dorado. The myth probably motivated a lot of the invasions on the native cities by greedy Europeans.

Where was it located?• Despite being a

legendary, lost city, El Dorado has been found a number of times.

• One of the people who supposedly discovered its secret was Antionio de Berrio who stated Manoa(the golden city/El Dorado) to be near the source of the Caroni river.

Where was it located?

• El Dorado was also located near Lake Guatavita

• Lake Guatavita is a two hour drive north of the Colombian capital of Bogota

Who searched for El Dorado.

• The most famous person to search for El Dorado was Sir Walter Raleigh

• Some other people who searched for it were Sir Walter Raleigh, Francisco de Orellana, Hernan Cortes, and Watt Raleigh

Class question

El Dorado supposedly nearby which lake?

A.Lake Erie B.Lake Guatavita C.Lake

TanganyikaD.Lake Mweru

Works cited

• http://www.pbs.org/conquistadors/orellana/orellana_b00.html#

• http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/754792/posts

"De Guiana"“Guiana, whose rich feet

are mines of gold,Whose forehead

knocks against the roof of stars,

Stands on her tiptoes at fair England

looking,”

Poem excerpt: George Chapman, "De

Guiana," 1