El Dorado: Quechua for Utopia?

When Spanish explorers arrived to South America they soon heard about the legend of El Dorado. Their ambition made them imagine a city made out of gold and jewels, where their wildest dreams would come true from all the money they would get. Many made expeditions to look for the legendary city but, whether in Ecuador, Colombia, or Guyana, were always unsuccessful. Nowadays some people relate it to the tribal ceremonies that took place in Guatavita, where an indigenous chief was covered in gold dust as people threw golden objects into a lake. It is evident that the golden city does not exist, so as I read Candide, that made me question the significance this legend has. Colonizers probably exaggerated the whole story, but the Indians probably did have a myth with this utopian city were everything is perfect.

As seen in the case of El Dorado, societies create their own imaginary paradise. Whether it was in the Old World or the New World, human nature made people create one. People in India created Nirvana, Catholics had Heaven and Indigenous tribes had each their equivalent. This probably happens because people, no matter where, need to look after something, or a reason to be optimistic.


So coming back to Candide, in class we discussed whether the world was just or not, and what Voltaire would've said about that. At first I thought the world was fair if made it that way, but as I've thought further into it, I understand what that question truly mean, and that the world is unfair. The world isn't either completely unfair or fair, but it is more likely for bad things to happen than to be happy and succeed. For example, it is easier to harm someone than to help them. Like the indigenous and many other societies, people are hopelessly optimist, a perfect target for satire. Voltaire mocks how people, as social conflicts were worse than ever, were busy philosophizing, taking about "cause and effect" and still believing in their imaginary wonderlands. Explorers were optimistic about finding tons of gold, indigenous people looked forward to their afterlives, influenced by myths, as Candide, or optimism as its title says, was cheerful about living his miseries,



Note that in the present Colombian society El Dorado is not longer a utopia.