"Over the Mountains of the Moon down the Valley of the Shadow... ride boldly ride ...If you seek El Dorado"
A.E. Poe
What is El Dorado? Is it a person,place, or ideal? The Spanish searched for this place of immense wealth this quest wasted countless lives, but why does the legend and quest for El Dorado still go on? Jose Oliver lecturer at the Institute of Archeology at the University College London stated " I don't think we've seeking El Dorado you want it to be true." Is El Dorado a person then the answer is yes. High in the Andes mountains which is now Columbia near Lake Guatavita a tribe of people lived who when a new chief was either appointed or rose to power his rule began with the ritual sacrifices of gold objects and the metaphorical sacrifice of the chief as El Dorado" The Gilded One" in which covered in gold in gold dust the chief would sacrifice himself by jumping into the lake water immersing himself as the El Dorado and being reborn from the water as their chief. So yes El Dorado is a person.
Was El Dorado also a place? To the minds of many Spanish and English explorer the fabled city or cities of gold existed and spurred them on to"ride boldly ride" to seek El Dorado but most of these adventurers either ended up empty handed, dead, or in most cases both. If a arch type for El Dorado existed it may have been a gold producing and trading center, much like the gold kingdoms of west Africa. So El Dorado much like the gold kingdom either ceased to exist when its export played or was conquered by another tribe.
But the legend persisted. So yes El Dorado could have been a place or places and the tales combined into one city and location El Dorado as we know today.
El Dorado as an ideal to us as followers of Indiana Jones, Sydney Fox, William Harper LittleJohn, and Allen Quartermain the answer is a definitive YES
To seek El Dorado is to seek the ark, the grail, and the relics of Atlantis, to go over the Mountain of the moon and The Breast of Sheba to seek King Solomon' s Mines all these things our are El Dorados, places and object of great historical value. My friends this is our Veritas Our Quest to follow the clues no matter how hopeles and no mattwer how far we must travel to know that what we seek for is right with out question or pause and even be willing to breach the gates of hell for our historical cause. So yes El Dorado is all three and more.
El Dorado
