Customer Reviews

Ancient Mysteries - The Quest for the Fountain of Youth

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This works has two streams that it tries to meld together: Ponce de Leon's travels in Florida and the folklore surrounding a fountain of youth. This work may irritate some in the straw man outline that it follows.

The piece brings up many different cultures and goes back to mentioning the Mesopotamians. It tries to make modern viewers relate by saying, "Even today, people visit Lourdes to cure their ills."

I loved seeing the art of the time that portrayed the Spanish, the indigenous, and others. However, at one point, Nimoy relays a story where the drawings are clearly done by a modern cartoonist, thus giving this section a puerile feel. Nimoy has bad Spanish pronunciation. The work is not diverse in terms of interviewees; there was only one woman interviewed, for example.

I never knew the actions of one Native warrior caused Ponce de Leon's death. I thought just Magellan died at the hands of the indigenous (for him, in the Philippine Islands). However, Nimoy states, "Besides Columbus, Ponce de Leon is today's only remembered discoverer." That is soooooo not true! What about Cortes, Pizarro, and many others?!