Macaronesia: Isles of the Blessed

We will be premiering our new documentary, Macaronesia: Isles of the Blessed, on YouTube August 30, 2019 at 8pm. Afterward the videos will remain at the same URL. I will be answering questions during the premiere. You can find the links to the videos below where the premiere and videos will be.

There are four Atlantic islands in the Macaronesia ecoregion: the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago; Cape Verde, an independent African nation; and two separate autonomous islands of Portugal: Azores and Madeira. This documentary covers all but the Canaries. It is broken into three main chapters and three minor (vignette) chapters.

Main
Chapter 1: The Azores https://youtu.be/za7seQswtXk
Chapter 2: Cabo Verde https://youtu.be/HdVVSqKtfAA
Chapter 3: Madeira https://youtu.be/N3px1_OEF9o

Vignettes
Chapter 4: Flores, Azores https://youtu.be/kK6TQ7TIbWM
Chapter 5: São Vicente, Cabo Verde https://youtu.be/ioZ1AcRXOMA
Chapter 6: Porto Santo, Madeira https://youtu.be/YHsJONvAg10

Because there is a set of small Micronesian islands in the Pacific, some of which LMM has filmed, like our two series' covering Guam, the Marshalls, Palau, the FSM and the Marianas, many assume there must be a macronesia (a large set of islands) somewhere in the world. (See the two series here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMVng3kKeJs, and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vit2Myiwro)

But the word Macaronesia has a completely different etymology and meaning from macronesia. Taken from the ancient Greek word, makárōn nêsoi, mentioned in Homer’s 8th Century BC work, the Odyssey, it refers to a semi-legendary place known as Isles of the Blessed, or the Fortunate Isles, a paradise reserved for special deities who were pure enough to gain entrance to the Elysian Fields.

Some say the islands were a mythical place, others say they were known. Today, the islands have been named Macaronesia in light of this Greek legend.

Is the ancient Greek mythology true? Could these islands truly be the legendary Isles of the Blessed, the Greek's Elysium, or possibly the ancient City of Atlantis?

Please contact us at lamanchamedia.org for licensing or to donate. We rely on donations to make these videos. LMM is a California nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax exemption corporation. We create videos around the world educating others as well as bringing to light positive service projects. We have filmed in orphanages, prisons, animal shelters, wildlife conservation projects and the like, and incorporate these with videos on geography, history and culture.

Filmed, Edited, Written and Produced by David Whalen
Produced by Richard Taylor
Equipment
Panasonic GH5
DJI Mavic 2 Pro

Copyright © 2019
La Mancha Media







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