Everything about El Dorado totally explained
El Dorado (Spanish: "the gilded one") is a
legend that began with the story of a
South American tribal chief who covered himself with
gold dust and would dive into a lake of pure mountain water.
The legend began in the 1530s, in the
Andes of present-day
Colombia, where
conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada first found the
Muisca, a nation in the modern day
Cundinamarca and
Boyacá highlands of
Colombia, in 1537.
The story of Muisca rituals was brought to
Quito by
Sebastián de Belalcázar's men; mixed with other rumors, there arose the
legend of 'El Dorado' (meaning the Golden Man rather than a place - 'el indio dorado', the golden Indian or 'El Rey Dorado', The Golden King).
Imagined as a place, El Dorado became a kingdom, an empire, the city of this legendary golden king. Deluded by a similar legend,
Francisco Orellana and
Gonzalo Pizarro would depart from Quito in 1541 in a famous and disastrous expedition towards the
Amazon Basin; as a result of this, however, Orellana became the first person to navigate the
Amazon River all the way to its mouth.
Tribal ceremony
The original narrative is to be found in the rambling chronicle,
El Carnero, of
Juan Rodriguez Freyle. According to Freyle, the king or chief priest of the Muisca was said to be ritually covered with gold dust at a religious festival held in
Lake Guatavita, near present-day
Bogotá...
In 1636 Juan Rodriguez Troxell wrote account, addressed to the cacique or governor of Guatavita:
» The ceremony took place on the appointment of a new ruler. Before taking office, he spent some time secluded in a cave, without women, forbidden to eat salt, or to go out during daylight. The first journey he'd to make was to go to the great lagoon of Guatavita, to make offerings and sacrifices to the demon which they worshipped as their god and lord. During the ceremony which took place at the lagoon, they made a raft of rushes, embellishing and decorating it with the most attractive things they had. They put on it four lighted braziers in which they burned much moque, which is the incense of these natives, and also resin and many other perfumes. The lagoon was large and deep, so that a ship with high sides could sail on it, all loaded with an infinity of men and women dressed in fine plumes, golden plaques and crowns.... As soon as those on the raft began to burn incense, they also lit braziers on the shore, so that the smoke hid the light of day.
» At this time they stripped the heir to his skin, and anointed him with a sticky earth on which they placed gold dust so that he was completely covered with this metal. They placed him on the raft ... and at his feet they placed a great heap of gold and emeralds for him to offer to his god. In the raft with him went four principal subject chiefs, decked in plumes, crowns, bracelets, pendants and ear rings all of gold. They, too, were naked, and each one carried his offering .... when the raft reached the centre of the lagoon, they raised a banner as a signal for silence. The gilded Indian then ... [threw] out all the pile of gold into the middle of the lake, and the chiefs who had accompanied him did the same on their own accounts. ... After this they lowered the flag, which had remained up during the whole time of offering, and, as the raft moved towards the shore, the shouting began again, with pipes, flutes, and large teams of singers and dancers. With this ceremony the new ruler was received, and was recognized as lord and king.
It is believed that these rituals were carried out by the Muisca in several lakes along their territory.
The Muisca towns and their treasures quickly fell to the conquistadores. Taking stock of their newly won territory, the Spaniards realized that — in spite of the quantity of gold in the hands of the Indians — there were no golden cities, nor even rich mines, since the Muiscas obtained all their gold in trade. But at the same time, the Spanish began to hear stories of El Dorado from captured Indians, and of the rites which used to take place at the lagoon of Guatavita. There were Indians still alive who had witnessed the last Guatavita ceremony, and the stories these Indians told were consistent.
Guatavita today bears a curious notch in its cliffside, evidence of an attempt to drain the lake in 1580.
Expeditions
El Dorado is applied to a legendary story in which precious stones were found in fabulous abundance. The concept of El Dorado underwent several transformations, and eventually accounts of the previous myth were also combined with those of the legendary city. The resulting El Dorado enticed European explorers for two centuries, and was eventually found to be in Colombia.
The most famous journey in search for El Dorado was undertaken by
Francisco de Orellana and
Gonzalo Pizarro (
1541), who passed down the
Rio Napo to the valley of the
Amazon all the way to its
delta.
Other expeditions include that of
Philipp von Hutten (
1541–
1545), who led an exploring party from
Coro on the coast of
Venezuela; and of
Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, the
Governor of El Dorado, who started from
Bogotá (
1569).
Sir Walter Raleigh, who resumed the search in
1595, described El Dorado as a city on
Lake Parima far up the
Orinoco in
Guiana (today in
Venezuela). This city on the lake was marked on
English and other maps until its existence was disproved by
Alexander von Humboldt (
1769–
1859). (See
Parima-Tapirapecó).
Among the most interesting stories was the one told by
Diego de Ordaz's lieutenant Martinez, who claimed to have been rescued from shipwreck, conveyed inland, and entertained at
Omoa by "El Dorado" himself (
1531);
Metaphor
In the mythology of the
Muisca today, El Dorado (Mnya) represents the energy contained in the trinity of Chiminigagua, which constitutes the creative power of everything that exists. Chiminigagua is, along with Bachué, Cuza, Chibchachum, Bochica, and Nemcatacoa, one of the creators of the universe.
Meanwhile, the name of
El Dorado came to be used metaphorically of any place where wealth could be rapidly acquired. It was given to
El Dorado County, California, and to towns and cities in various states.
In literature, frequent allusion is made to the legend, perhaps the best-known references being those in
Milton's Paradise Lost (Book xi. 408-411) and in
Voltaire's
Candide (chs. 18, 19). "Eldorado" was the title and subject of a four-verse poem by
Edgar Allan Poe. In the 1966 John Wayne film
El Dorado, most of Poe's poem is recited by the character nicknamed Mississippi
(External Link
)
El Dorado is also referenced in
Joseph Conrad's novella
Heart of Darkness. Within Conrad's work, the Eldorado Exploring Expedition journeys into the jungles of
Africa in search of conquest and treasure, only to meet an untimely demise.
El Dorado is also sometimes used as a metaphor to represent an ultimate prize or "
Holy Grail" that one might spend one's life seeking. It could represent true love, heaven, happiness, or success. It is used sometimes as a figure of speech to represent something much sought after that may not even exist, or at least may not ever be found. Such use is evident in Poe's poem "El Dorado". In this context, El Dorado bears similarity to other myths such as the
Fountain of Youth,
Shangri-la, and to some extent the term "white whale" which refers to Captain Ahab's obsession in the book
Moby-Dick. The disillusionment side of the ideal quest metaphor may be represented by
Helldorado, a satirical nickname given to
Tombstone by a tardy miner who complained that many of his profession had traveled far to find El Dorado, only to wind up washing dishes in restaurants.
Werner Herzog's film,
Aguirre, the Wrath of God, also explores the El Dorado metaphor. The main character,
Lope de Aguirre, is historically based, but is actually an amalgam of Aguirre and
Francisco Orellana, mentioned in the historical section, above.
References in Popular Culture
The legend of El Dorado is featured in the film
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and the city is also known as Akator. In the film, the legend turns out to be a mistranslation and the city holds a "treasure"; it isn't literally made out of gold.
In the game there's a statue made of gold known as El Dorado, which the plot revolves around
El Dorado was greatly intertwined with the plot of the film where the 'city of gold' was found.
In 2000 Dreamworks released a cartoon film called
The Road to El Dorado.
Further Information
Get more info on 'El Dorado'.
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