Christopher Columbus. Everybody knows this name. Mostly people praise him as a hero, who discovered America for them not even knowing about the crimes he committed in the New World. So, who is he? The great explorer or a greedy conqueror stripped from humanity?
             Until recently I knew only one side of Columbus's personality, that consisted of myths and half-truths. I considered Christopher Columbus one of the greatest explorers of all time; an Italian marine with an early talent for seafaring who from childhood prepared himself for the great journey that lead to the discovery of America. His active, curious mind and a scientific spirit, courage, modesty and a vivid imagination, high moral worth and strong believe in pursuit of his ideas equaled him to a crazy genius with a naive heart. In my mind Columbus rose above political quarrels and petty Kings. For 10 years he struggled in persuading Spanish king to authorize and equip the expedition. In August of 1492, with 3 ships and a crew of bandits and outlaws, he set out to prove the earth was round. After 3 month of terrible weather and sailing to the unknown destination he landed at the island, which he believed was close to India. Thus he reached one of the Bahamas Islands and found the new nation, completely different from European with its own history and traditions; the nation free of the Old World's tyranny. My incomplete and one-sided knowledge about Christopher Columbus portrayed a perfect hero without any flaws.
             It turned out that I believed in a myth and that in reality longing for power Christopher Columbus cruelly conquered the land. From the beginning the purpose of his expedition were land, gold and spices. In other words- power. At first, he wanted to sail for Italy. Italians were transporting goods in the Mediterranean and had everything they needed. Yet, if Columbus found a shorter rut to India, they would be out of business. So they turned him d...