Os Lusíadas
Encyclopedia
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
epic poem
Epic poetry
An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
by Luís Vaz de Camões
Luís de Camões
Luís Vaz de Camões is considered Portugal's and the Portuguese language's greatest poet. His mastery of verse has been compared to that of Shakespeare, Vondel, Homer, Virgil and Dante. He wrote a considerable amount of lyrical poetry and drama but is best remembered for his epic work Os Lusíadas...
(sometimes anglicized as Camoens).
Written in Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
ic fashion, the poem focuses mainly on a fantastical interpretation of the Portuguese voyages of discovery
Portugal in the Age of Discovery
During the history of Portugal between 1415 and 1578, Portugal discovered an eastern route to India that rounded the Cape of Good Hope, discovered Brazil, established trading routes throughout most of southern Asia, colonized selected areas of Africa, and sent the first direct European maritime...
during the 15th and 16th centuries. Os Lusíadas is often regarded as Portugal's national epic
National epic
A national epic is an epic poem or a literary work of epic scope which seeks or is believed to capture and express the essence or spirit of a particular nation; not necessarily a nation-state, but at least an ethnic or linguistic group with aspirations to independence or autonomy...
, much in the way as Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
's Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
was for the Ancient Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, as well as Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
's Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
and Odyssey
Odyssey
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...
for the Ancient Greeks
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
. It was first printed in 1572, three years after the author returned from the Indies
Indies
The Indies is a term that has been used to describe the lands of South and Southeast Asia, occupying all of the present India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and also Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, the Philippines, East Timor, Malaysia and...
.
Internal structure
The poem consists of ten cantoCanto
The canto is a principal form of division in a long poem, especially the epic. The word comes from Italian, meaning "song" or singing. Famous examples of epic poetry which employ the canto division are Lord Byron's Don Juan, Valmiki's Ramayana , Dante's The Divine Comedy , and Ezra Pound's The...
s, with a variable number of stanza
Stanza
In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...
s (1102 in total), written in the decasyllabic ottava rima
Ottava rima
Ottava rima is a rhyming stanza form of Italian origin. Originally used for long poems on heroic themes, it later came to be popular in the writing of mock-heroic works. Its earliest known use is in the writings of Giovanni Boccaccio....
, which has the rhyme scheme
Rhyme scheme
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyme between lines of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme. In other words, it is the pattern of end rhymes or lines...
ABABABCC.
The poem is made up of four sections:
- An introduction (proposition - presentation of the themeTheme (literature)A theme is a broad, message, or moral of a story. The message may be about life, society, or human nature. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and are almost always implied rather than stated explicitly. Along with plot, character,...
and heroes of the poem) - Invocation – a prayer to the Tágides, the nymphs of the river Tejo;
- A dedication - (to D. SebastiãoSebastian of PortugalSebastian "the Desired" was the 16th king of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of Prince John of Portugal and his wife, Joan of Spain...
), followed by narration (the epic itself) - An epilogue, (beginning at Canto X, stanza 145).
The middle section contains the narration and a variety of scenes. The most important part of Os Lusíadas, the arrival in India, was placed at the point in the poem that divides the work according to the golden section
Golden ratio
In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio of the sum of the quantities to the larger quantity is equal to the ratio of the larger quantity to the smaller one. The golden ratio is an irrational mathematical constant, approximately 1.61803398874989...
at the beginning of Canto VII.
The heroes
The heroes of the epic are the Lusiads (Lusíadas), the sons of LususLusus
Lusus is the supposed son or companion of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and divine madness, to whom Portuguese national mythology attributed the foundation of ancient Lusitania and the fatherhood of the its inhabitants, the Lusitanians, seen as the ancestors of the modern Portuguese people...
or in other words, the Portuguese. The initial strophes of Jupiter
Jupiter (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
's speech in the Concílio dos Deuses Olímpicos (Olympian Gods Council) which open the narrative part, highlight the laudatory orientation of the author.
In these strophes, Camões speaks of Viriathus
Viriathus
Viriathus was the most important leader of the Lusitanian people that resisted Roman expansion into the regions of Western Hispania , where the Roman province of Lusitania would be established...
and Sertorius, the people of Lusus
Lusitanians
The Lusitanians were an Indo-European people living in the Western Iberian Peninsula long before it became the Roman province of Lusitania . They spoke the Lusitanian language which might have been Celtic. The modern Portuguese people see the Lusitanians as their ancestors...
, a people predestined by the Fates
Moirae
The Moirae, Moerae or Moirai , in Greek mythology, were the white-robed incarnations of destiny . Their number became fixed at three...
to accomplish great deeds. Jupiter says that their history proves it because, having emerged victorious against the Moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
and Castilians
Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...
, this tiny nation has gone on to discover new worlds and impose its law in the concert of the nations. At the end of the poem, on Love Island, a fictional finale of the glorious Portuguese walk throughout history, Camões writes that the fear once expressed by Bacchus
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
has been confirmed: that the Portuguese would become gods.
The extraordinary Portuguese discoveries and the "new kingdom that they exalted so much" ("novo reino que tanto sublimaram") in the East, and certainly the recent and extraordinary deeds of "strong Castro" ("Castro forte", the viceroy D.João de Castro
João de Castro
Dom João de Castro was a Portuguese naval officer and fourth viceroy of Portuguese India. He was called Castro Forte by poet Luís de Camões. Castro was the son of Álvaro de Castro, civil governor of Lisbon...
), who had died some years before the poet's arrival to Indian lands, were the decisive factors for Camões completing the Portuguese epic. Camões dedicated his masterpiece to King Sebastian of Portugal
Sebastian of Portugal
Sebastian "the Desired" was the 16th king of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of Prince John of Portugal and his wife, Joan of Spain...
.
The narrators and their speeches
The vast majority of the narration in Os Lusíadas consists of grandiloquent speeches by the various orators. For example the main narrator makes a number of speeches on various occasions: Vasco da GamaVasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira was a Portuguese explorer, one of the most successful in the Age of Discovery and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India...
, recognized as "eloquent captain" ("facundo capitão"); Paulo da Gama
Paulo da Gama
Paulo da Gama was a Portuguese explorer, son of Estevão da Gama and the older brother of Vasco da Gama.He was a member of the first voyage from Europe to India, led by his brother, commanding the ship São Rafael, which would be later scuttled in the return trip. Paulo da Gama joined the São Gabriel...
; Thetis
Thetis
Silver-footed Thetis , disposer or "placer" , is encountered in Greek mythology mostly as a sea nymph or known as the goddess of water, one of the fifty Nereids, daughters of the ancient one of the seas with shape-shifting abilities who survives in the historical vestiges of most later Greek myths...
... The Siren
Siren
In Greek mythology, the Sirens were three dangerous mermaid like creatures, portrayed as seductresses who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Roman poets placed them on an island called Sirenum scopuli...
(canto X), that foretells with the sound of music; when the poet asks the Tágides (nymphs of the river Tagus) "a tall and sublimated sound,/ a grandiloquent and current style" ("um som alto e sublimado, / Um estilo grandíloquo e corrente"). In contrast to the style of lyric poetry, or "humble verse" ("verso humilde"), he is thinking about this exciting tone of oratory. There are in the poem some brief but notable speeches (Jupiter's, Velho do Restelo's...)
There are also descriptive passages, like the description of the palaces of Neptune
Poseidon
Poseidon was the god of the sea, and, as "Earth-Shaker," of the earthquakes in Greek mythology. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...
and the Samorim of Calicute
Kozhikode
Kozhikode During Classical antiquity and the Middle Ages, Kozhikkode was dubbed the "City of Spices" for its role as the major trading point of eastern spices. Kozhikode was once the capital of an independent kingdom of the same name and later of the erstwhile Malabar District...
, the locus amoenus
Locus Amoenus
Latin for "pleasant place", locus amoenus is a literary term which generally refers to an idealized place of safety or comfort. A locus amoenus is usually a beautiful, shady lawn or open woodland, sometimes with connotations of Eden...
of Love Island
Love Island
Love Island was a daily British reality television programme. In the show, twelve single celebrities spent five weeks on an island in Fiji. Viewers would vote for the couple they would like to see in the "love shack" where the two would get to know one another better...
(Canto IX), the dinner in the palace of Thetis (Canto X), Gama's cloth (end of Canto II). Sometimes these descriptions are like a slide show: the things that are described are there and there is someone who shows them; (geographic start of Gama's speech to the king of Melinde
Malindi
Malindi is a town on Malindi Bay at the mouth of the Galana River, lying on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It is 120 kilometres northeast of Mombasa. The population of Malindi is 117,735 . It is the capital of the Malindi District.Tourism is the major industry in Malindi. The city is...
, certain sculptures of the palaces of Neptune and the Samorim, the speech of Paulo da Gama to the Catual and the Machine of the World (Máquina do Mundo)...)
Examples of dynamic descriptions include the "battle" of the Island of Mozambique
Island of Mozambique
The Island of Mozambique lies off northern Mozambique, between the Mozambique Channel and Mossuril Bay. It has a population of around 14,000 people and is part of Nampula Province.-History:...
, the battles of Ourique
Battle of Ourique
The Battle of Ourique saw the forces of Portuguese Prince Afonso Henriques defeat the Almoravid Moors led by Ali ibn Yusuf.-Background:...
and Aljubarrota
Battle of Aljubarrota
The Battle of Aljubarrota was a battle fought between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Crown of Castile on 14 August 1385. Forces commanded by King John I of Portugal and his general Nuno Álvares Pereira, with the support of English allies, opposed the army of King John I of Castile with its...
, the storm. Camões is a master in these descriptions, marked by the verbs of movement, the abundance of visual and acoustic sensations, and expressive alliterations. There are also many lyrical moments. Those texts are normally narrative-descriptive. This is the case with the initial part of the episode of the Sad Inês, of the final part of the episode of the Adamastor
Adamastor
Adamastor is a Greek-type mythological character famed by the Portuguese poet Luís de Camões in his epic poem Os Lusíadas , as a symbol of the forces of nature Portuguese navigators had to overcome during their discoveries...
and of the encounter on Love Island (Canto IX). All these cases resemble eclogue
Eclogue
An eclogue is a poem in a classical style on a pastoral subject. Poems in the genre are sometimes also called bucolics.The form of the word in contemporary English is taken from French eclogue, from Old French, from Latin ecloga...
s.
On several occasions the poet assumes a tone of lament, as at the end of Canto I, part of the speech of the Velho do Restelo, the end of Canto V, the beginning and end of Canto VII, and the final strophes of the poem. Many times, in difficult moments, Gama bursts into oration: in Mombasa (Canto II), in the apparition of Adamastor, and in the middle of the terror of the storm. The poet's invocations to the Tágides, to Calliope
Calliope
In Greek mythology, Calliope was the muse of epic poetry, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and is now best known as Homer's muse, the inspiration for the Odyssey and the Iliad....
(beginning of Canto III), to the Nymphs of Tagus and Mondego (Canto VII), and again to Calliope (Canto X), in typological terms, are also orations. Each one of these types of speech shows stylistical peculiarities.
Canto I
The epic begins with a dedication section, with the poet paying homage to VirgilVirgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
and Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
. The first line mimics the opening line of the Aeneid, and pays a hopeful tribute to the young King Sebastião. The story, then (in imitation of the classical epics) portrays the gods of Greece watching over the voyage of Vasco da Gama. Just as the gods had divided loyalties during the voyages of Odysseus
Odysseus
Odysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
and Aeneas
Aeneas
Aeneas , in Greco-Roman mythology, was a Trojan hero, the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite. His father was the second cousin of King Priam of Troy, making Aeneas Priam's second cousin, once removed. The journey of Aeneas from Troy , which led to the founding a hamlet south of...
, here Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
, who favors the Portuguese, is opposed by Bacchus
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
, who is here associated with the east and resents the encroachment on his territory. We encounter Vasco da Gama's voyage in medias res
In medias res
In medias res or medias in res is a Latin phrase denoting the literary and artistic narrative technique wherein the relation of a story begins either at the mid-point or at the conclusion, rather than at the beginning In medias res or medias in res (into the middle of things) is a Latin phrase...
as they have already rounded the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
. At the urging of Bacchus, who is disguised as a Moor, the local Muslims plot to attack the explorer and his crew.
Canto II
Two scouts sent by Vasco da Gama are fooled by a fake altar created by Bacchus into thinking that there are Christians among the Muslims. Thus, the explorers are lured into an ambush but successfully survive with the aid of Venus. Venus pleads with her father JoveJOVE
JOVE is an open-source, Emacs-like text editor, primarily intended for Unix-like operating systems. It also supports MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows. JOVE was inspired by Gosling Emacs but is much smaller and simpler, lacking Mocklisp...
, who predicts great fortunes for the Portuguese in the east. The fleet lands at Melinde where it is welcomed by a friendly Sultan.
Canto III
After an appeal by the poet to CalliopeCalliope
In Greek mythology, Calliope was the muse of epic poetry, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and is now best known as Homer's muse, the inspiration for the Odyssey and the Iliad....
, the Greek muse
Muse
The Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature, are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths...
of epic poetry, Vasco da Gama begins to narrate the History of Portugal
History of Portugal
The history of Portugal, a European and an Atlantic nation, dates back to the Early Middle Ages. In the 15th and 16th centuries, it ascended to the status of a world power during Europe's "Age of Discovery" as it built up a vast empire including possessions in South America, Africa, Asia and...
. He starts by referring to the situation of Portugal in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the legendary story of Lusus and Viriathus. This is followed by passages on the meaning of Portuguese nationality and then by an enumeration of the warrior deeds of the 1st Dynasty kings, from D. Afonso Henriques to D. Fernando.
Episodes that stand out include Egas Moniz and the Battle of Ourique
Battle of Ourique
The Battle of Ourique saw the forces of Portuguese Prince Afonso Henriques defeat the Almoravid Moors led by Ali ibn Yusuf.-Background:...
during D. Afonso Henriques's reign, Formosíssima Maria (Beautiful Maria) in the Battle of Salado
Battle of Rio Salado
The Battle of Río Salado was a battle of King Afonso IV of Portugal and King Alfonso XI of Castile against sultan Abu al-Hasan 'Ali of the Marinid dynasty of Morocco and the Nasrid ruler Yusuf I of the Kingdom of Granada.-Campaign:...
, and Inês de Castro
Inês de Castro
Inês Peres de Castro was a Galician noblewoman born of a Portuguese mother...
during D. Afonso IV
Afonso IV of Portugal
Afonso IV , called the Brave , was the seventh king of Portugal and the Algarve from 1325 until his death. He was the only legitimate son of King Denis of Portugal by his wife Elizabeth of Aragon.-Biography:...
's reign.
Canto IV
Vasco da Gama continues the narrative of the history of Portugal by recounting the story of the 2nd Dynasty, from the revolution of 1383-851383–1385 Crisis
The 1383–1385 Crisis was a period of civil war in Portuguese history that began with the death of King Ferdinand I of Portugal, who left no male heirs, and ended with the accession to the throne of King John I in 1385, in the wake of the Battle of Aljubarrota.In Portugal, this period is also known...
, until the moment during the reign of D. Manuel I
Manuel I of Portugal
Manuel I , the Fortunate , 14th king of Portugal and the Algarves was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, , by his wife, Infanta Beatrice of Portugal...
when the armada of Vasco da Gama sails to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. The narrative of the Revolution of 1383-85, that focuses mainly in the figure of Nuno Álvares Pereira
Nuno Álvares Pereira
Dom Nuno Álvares Pereira, O. Carm. , also spelled Nun'Álvares Pereira, was a Portuguese general of great success who had a decisive role in the 1383-1385 Crisis that assured Portugal's independence from Castile...
and the Battle of Aljubarrota
Battle of Aljubarrota
The Battle of Aljubarrota was a battle fought between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Crown of Castile on 14 August 1385. Forces commanded by King John I of Portugal and his general Nuno Álvares Pereira, with the support of English allies, opposed the army of King John I of Castile with its...
, is followed by the events of the reigns of D. João II, especially the ones related to the expansion into Africa.
Following this incident, the poem narrates the journey to India, a wish that D. João II did not accomplish during his lifetime, and that would become true with D. Manuel, to whom the rivers Indus and Ganges appeared in dreams foretelling the future glories of the Orient. This canto ends with the sailing of the Armada, the sailors in which are surprised by the prophetically pessimistic words of an old man that was on the beach among the crowd. This is the episode of the Velho do Restelo.
Canto V
The story moves on to the King of Melinde, describing the journey of the Armada from LisbonLisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
to Melinde
Melinde
Melinde may refer to:* Melinda, a female name* Malindi, Kenya circa 1500...
. During the voyage, the sailors see the Southern Cross
Crux
Crux is the smallest of the 88 modern constellations, but is one of the most distinctive. Its name is Latin for cross, and it is dominated by a cross-shaped asterism that is commonly known as the Southern Cross.-Visibility:...
, St. Elmo's Fire
St. Elmo's fire
St. Elmo's fire is a weather phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created by a coronal discharge from a grounded object in an electric field in the atmosphere St. Elmo's fire is named after St. Erasmus of Formiae St. Elmo's fire (also St. Elmo's light) is a weather phenomenon in which luminous...
(Maritime Whirlwind), and face a variety of dangers and obstacles such as the hostility of natives in the episode of Fernão Veloso, the fury of a monster in the episode of the Giant Adamastor, and the disease and death caused by scurvy
Scurvy
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...
. Canto V ends with the poet's censure of his contemporaries that despise poetry.
Canto VI
After Vasco da Gama's narrative, the armada sails from Melinde guided by a pilot to teach them the way to CalicutHistory of Kozhikode
Kozhikode , also known as Calicut, is a city in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is the third largest city in Kerala and the headquarters of Kozhikode district....
. Bacchus, seeing that the Portuguese are about to arrive in India, asks for help to Neptune
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
, who convenes a "Concílio dos Deuses Marinhos" (Maritime Gods Council) whose decision is to support Bacchus and unleash powerful winds to sink the armada. Then, while the sailors are listening to Fernão Veloso telling the legendary and chivalrous episode of Os Doze de Inglaterra (The Twelve of England), a storm strikes.
Vasco da Gama, seeing the near destruction of his caravel
Caravel
A caravel is a small, highly maneuverable sailing ship developed in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave her speed and the capacity for sailing to windward...
s, prays to his own God, but it is Venus who helps the Portuguese by sending the Nymphs to seduce the winds and calm them down. After the storm, the armada sights Calicut, and Vasco da Gama gives thanks to God. The canto ends with the poet speculating about the value of the fame and glory reached through great deeds.
Canto VII
After condemning some of the other nations of Europe (who in his opinion fail to live up to Christian ideals), the poet tells of the Portuguese fleet reaching the Indian city of Calicut. A Muslim named Monsayeed greets the fleet and tells the explorers about the lands they have reached. The king, Samorin, hears of the newcomers and summons them. A governor and official of the king, called the Catual, leads the Portuguese to the king, who receives them well. The Catual speaks with Monsayeed to learn more about the new arrivals. The Catual then goes to the Portuguese ships himself to confirm what Monsayeed has told him and is treated well.Canto VIII
The Catual sees a number of paintings that depict significant figures and events from Portuguese history, all of which are detailed by the author. Bacchus appears in a vision to a Muslim priest in Samorin's court and convinces him that the explorers are a threat. The priest spreads the warnings among the Catuals and the court, prompting Samorin to confront da Gama on his intentions. Da Gama insists that the Portuguese are traders instead of buccaneers. The king then demands proof from da Gama's ships, but when he tries to return to the fleet, da Gama finds that the Catual, who has been corrupted by the Muslim leaders, refuses to lend him a boat at the harbor and holds him prisoner. Da Gama manages to get free only after agreeing to have all of the goods on the ships brought to shore to be sold.Canto IX
The Muslims plot to detain the Portuguese until the annual trading fleet from MeccaMecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
can arrive to attack them, but Monsayeed tells da Gama of the conspiracy, and the ships escape from Calicut. To reward the explorers for their efforts, Venus prepares an island for them to rest on and asks her son Cupid
Cupid
In Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of desire, affection and erotic love. He is the son of the goddess Venus and the god Mars. His Greek counterpart is Eros...
to inspire Nereids
Nereids
In Greek mythology, the Nereids are sea nymphs, the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris, sisters to Nerites. They often accompany Poseidon and can be friendly and helpful to sailors fighting perilous storms. They are particularly associated with the Aegean Sea, where they dwelt with their father...
with desire for them. When the sailors arrive on the Isle of Love, the ocean nymphs make a pretense of running but surrender quickly.
Canto X
During a sumptuous feast on the Isle of Love, TethysTethys
Tethys can refer to:* Tethys , a Titaness in Greek mythology* Tethys , a natural satellite of Saturn* Tethys Ocean, a Mesozoic-era ocean between the continents of Gondwana and Laurasia** Prototethys Ocean...
, who is now the lover of da Gama, prophecies the future of Portuguese exploration and conquest. She tells of Duarte Pacheco Pereira
Duarte Pacheco Pereira
Duarte Pacheco Pereira, called the Great, was a 15th century Portuguese sea captain, soldier, explorer and cartographer. He travelled particularly in the central Atlantic Ocean west of the Cape Verde islands, along the coast of West Africa and to India...
's defense of Cochim; the Battle of Diu (1509)
Battle of Diu (1509)
The Battle of Diu sometimes referred as the Second Battle of Chaul was a naval battle fought on 3 February 1509 in the Arabian Sea, near the port of Diu, India, between the Portuguese Empire and a joint fleet of the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, the Zamorin of Kozhikode...
fought by Francisco de Almeida
Francisco de Almeida
Dom Francisco de Almeida , also known as "the Great Dom Francisco" , was a Portuguese nobleman, soldier and explorer. He distinguished himself as a counsellor to King John II of Portugal and later in the wars against the Moors and in the conquest of Granada in 1492...
and his son Lourenco de Almeida
Lourenço de Almeida
Lourenço de Almeida , son of Francisco de Almeida, acting under him, distinguished himself in the Indian Ocean, and made Ceylon tributary to Portugal...
against combined Gujarati-Egyptian fleets; the deeds of Tristão da Cunha
Tristão da Cunha
Tristão da Cunha was a Portuguese explorer and naval commander. In 1514 he served as ambassador from king Manuel I of Portugal to Pope Leo X leading a luxurious embassy presenting in Rome the new conquests of Portugal...
, Pedro de Mascarenhas, Lopo Vaz de Sampaio
Lopo Vaz de Sampaio
Lopo Vaz de Sampaio was an administrator of the Portuguese Empire. He was also the captain of Vasco da Gama, a famous Portuguese explorer. During 1528-29, Lopo Vaz de Sampaio seized the fort of Mahim from the Gujarat Sultanate, when the King was at war with Nizam-ul-mulk, the emperor of Chaul, a...
, and Nuno da Cunha
Nuno da Cunha
Nuno da Cunha was a governor of Portuguese possessions in India from 1528 to 1538.He was the son of Antónia Pais and Tristão da Cunha, the famous Portuguese navigator, admiral and ambassador to Pope Leo X....
; and battles fought by Martim Afonso de Sousa
Martim Afonso de Sousa
Martim Afonso de Sousa was a Portuguese fidalgo and explorer.Born in Vila Viçosa, he was commander of the first official Portuguese expedition into mainland Brazil...
and João de Castro. Tethys then guides da Gama to a summit and reveals to him a vision of how the (Ptolemaic
Geocentric model
In astronomy, the geocentric model , is the superseded theory that the Earth is the center of the universe, and that all other objects orbit around it. This geocentric model served as the predominant cosmological system in many ancient civilizations such as ancient Greece...
) universe operates. The tour continues with glimpses of the lands of Africa and Asia. The legend of the martyrdom of the apostle St. Thomas
Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection when first told of it, then proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus in . He was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman...
in India is told at this point. Finally, Tethys relates the voyage of Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer. He was born in Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, and served King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" ....
. The epic concludes with more advice to young King Sebastião.
The Council of the Olympic Gods
This episode, that comes right after the first strophe of the narration (no.19 of Canto I) and that depicts the entry of the caravan of carrackCarrack
A carrack or nau was a three- or four-masted sailing ship developed in 15th century Western Europe for use in the Atlantic Ocean. It had a high rounded stern with large aftcastle, forecastle and bowsprit at the stem. It was first used by the Portuguese , and later by the Spanish, to explore and...
s in the poem, sailing into the unknown upon the sheet of white foam of the Indian Ocean, has a huge significance in the organization of the poem. The gods of the four corners of the world are reunited to talk about "the future things of the Orient" ("as cousas futuras do Oriente"); in fact, what they are going to decide is whether the Portuguese will be allowed to reach India and what will happen next.
The gods are described by Jupiter as residents of the "shiny, / starry Pole and bright Seat" ("luzente, estelífero Pólo e claro Assento"); this shiny, starry Pole and bright Seat or Olympus
Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, about 100 kilometres away from Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. Mount Olympus has 52 peaks. The highest peak Mytikas, meaning "nose", rises to 2,917 metres...
had already been described before as "luminous"; the Gods walk on the "beautiful crystalline sky" ("cristalino céu fermoso"), to the Milky Way
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
. In strophes 22 and 23 they are also said to be shining. Jupiter is described as the "Father" ("Padre" - archaic Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
for father) that "vibrates the fierce rays of Vulcan
Vulcan (mythology)
Vulcan , aka Mulciber, is the god of beneficial and hindering fire, including the fire of volcanoes in ancient Roman religion and Roman Neopaganism. Vulcan is usually depicted with a thunderbolt. He is known as Sethlans in Etruscan mythology...
" ("vibra os feros raios de Vulcano"), presides from a "crystalline seat of stars" ("assento de estrelas cristalino"), carrying "a gleaming crown and sceptre/of another rock clearer than diamond" ("hua coroa e ceptro rutilante / de outra pedra mais clara que diamante". Jupiter's chair is a crystalline seat of stars and the rest of the Olympian furniture is equally ornate: "In shiny seats, enamelled/of gold and pearls, under there were/ the other gods (...)" ("Em luzentes assentos, marchetados / de ouro e perlas, mais abaixo estavam / os outros Deuses (...)").
During the council, the behaviour of the gods is described as disgraceful. It starts as "Reason and Order demanded" "a Razão e a Ordem concertavam", but it ends in revolting insubordination, to which Mars
Mars (mythology)
Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...
brutally puts an end.
Jupiter, after the end of his speech, entirely neglects the guidance of the other Gods, so two parties are formed. The party of Venus
Venus (mythology)
Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...
, favourable to the Portuguese, and the party of Bacchus, defending the interests of this god who wanted to stop the Portuguese from reaching their goal. The council ends by accepting the point of view earlier expressed by Jupiter, however Bacchus will not accept this.
The speech that Jupiter uses to start the meeting is a finished piece of oratory
Oratory
Oratory is a type of public speaking.Oratory may also refer to:* Oratory , a power metal band* Oratory , a place of worship* a religious order such as** Oratory of Saint Philip Neri ** Oratory of Jesus...
. It opens with exordium
Exordium (rhetoric)
In Western classical rhetoric, the exordium was the introductory portion of an oration. The term is Latin and the Greek equivalent was called the Proem or Prooimion....
(1st strophe), in which, after an original welcome, Jupiter briefly defines the subject. This is followed, in the ancient rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
al fashion, by the narration (the past shows that the intention of the Fados
Destiny
Destiny or fate refers to a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual...
is the same one that the orator presented). There is then a confirmation of suggestions already put forth in the narration of the 4th strophe. This episode then ends with two strophes of peroration
Peroration
In classical rhetoric, a peroration was the final part of a speech. It was one of the four or five traditional components in the ordo of a speech....
, where Jupiter appeals to the benevolence of the gods concerning the sons of Lusus, with Jupiter's speech eventually settling the debate.
A lyric-tragic episode
The episode, usually known as "of Inês de Castro", is one of the most famous of Os Lusíadas. It is normally classified as a lyric, thus distinguishing it from the more common war episodes. The episode discusses destinyDestiny
Destiny or fate refers to a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual...
, and leads the action to its tragic end, even something close to the coir (apostrophe
Apostrophe (figure of speech)
Apostrophe is an exclamatory rhetorical figure of speech, when a speaker or writer breaks off and directs speech to an imaginary person or abstract quality or idea...
s).
The nobility of the characters is also emphasised, in a way that is intended to create feelings of sympathy when the protagonist suffers. This technique is used most strongly when Inês fears the orphaning of her children more than losing her own life and she begs for the commutation of capital punishment for an exile in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
(Cítia) or in Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
in order to have an opportunity to raise her children, and she is compared with "the young beautiful Policena". Strophes 134 and 135 are written to evoke this pity
Pity
Pity originally means feeling for others, particularly feelings of sadness or sorrow, and was once used in a comparable sense to the more modern words "sympathy" and "empathy"...
.
The Adamastor
The Adamastor episode is divided into three segments. The first, a theophanyTheophany
Theophany, from the Ancient Greek , meaning "appearance of God"), refers to the appearance of a deity to a human or other being, or to a divine disclosure....
, goes from strophe 37 to 40; the second, that in chronologic-narrative terms is a prolepsis
Prolepsis
Prolepsis may refer to:* Flashforward, in storytelling, an interjected scene that takes the narrative forward* Prolepsis , 1975 work by Arrogance...
, occupies strophes 41 to 48; finally, the third part, a marine eclogue with some points of contact with Écloga III of Camões, ends in strophe 59.
The vigorous theophany that the first part describes is in the following verses: "Chill the flesh and the hairs/ to me and all [the others] only by listening and seeing him" ("Arrepiam-se as carnes e os cabelos / a mi e a todos só de ouvi-lo e vê-lo"). This is intended to convey pure fear, the imminent threat of annihilation. The evil demigod
Demigod
The term "demigod" , meaning "half-god", is commonly used to describe mythological figures whose one parent was a god and whose other parent was human; as such, demigods are human-god hybrids...
is preceded by a black cloud, which appears above the heads of the sailors. Expressing the surprise he experiences, Gama quotes himself: "Oh divine power – [I] said – sublimated, / what divine threat or what secret / this clime and this sea presents to us / that seems a bigger thing than a storm?" ("Ó potestade – disse - sublimada, / que ameaço divino ou que segredo / este clima e este mar nos apresenta, / que mor cousa parece que tormenta?") The "strange Colossus" ("estranhíssimo Colosso"): "Rude son of the Earth" ("Filho aspérrimo da Terra") is described as having: "huge stature", "squalid beard", "earthy colour", "full of earth and crinkly of hairs / blacken the mouth, yellow the teeth"("disforme estatura", "barba esquálida", "cor terrena", "cheios de terra e crespos os cabelos / a boca negra, os dentes, amarelos").
Such emphasis on the appearance of the Adamastor is intended to contrast with the preceding scenery, which was expressed as: “seas of the South” ("mares do Sul"): "(...) / the winds blowing favourably / when one night, being careless/ in the cutting bow watching, / (...)" ("(...) / prosperamente os ventos assoprando, / quando hua noite, estando descuidados / na cortadora proa vigiando, / (...)"). The final marine eclogue conforms to a pattern that is common to many of Camões' lyrical compositions: falling in love, forced separation, grieving over the frustrated dream.
The eclogue of the Island of Love
The locus amoenus: the strophes that come after strophe 52 of Canto IX, and some of the main parts that appear from strophe 68 to 95 describe the scenery where the love encountered between the NautasSailor
A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...
and the Nymphs take place. The poet also talks about the fauna that live there and of fruits produced instantly. It is portrayed as a paradise.
The allegory
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
in the second part of Canto IX sees Camões describing, the scene between the Nautas-and the Nymphs that were expecting them- prepared by Venus. Given in an allegoric sense: "That the Nymphs of the Ocean, so beautiful, / Tethys and the angelic Island painted, / Are none other than the delightful / Honours that make life sublimated" ("Que as Ninfas do Oceano, tão fermosas, / Tethys e a Ilha angélica pintada, / Outra cousa não é que as deleitosas / Honras que a vida fazem sublimada") (strophe 89).
The Canto is ended with the poet communicating to the reader: "Impossible things do not do, / Who wanted always could: and numbered / You will be amongst the famous heroes / And in this Isle of Venus received." («Impossibilidades não façais, / Que quem quis sempre pôde: e numerados / Sereis entre os heróis esclarecidos / E nesta Ilha de Vénus recebidos.»).
The Machine of the World
The Sirene invites Gama to the spectacle of the Machine of the World (Máquina do Mundo) with these words: "Makes you [this] favour, baron, the Sapience / Supreme of, with the corporeal eyes, / see what cannot [see] the vain science / of the wrong and miserable mortals" («Faz-te mercê, barão, a sapiência / Suprema de, cos olhos corporais, / veres o que não pode a vã ciência / dos errados e míseros mortais»).The Machine of the World is presented as the spectacle unique, divine, seen by "corporeal eyes". In the words of António José Saraiva, "it is one of the supreme successes of Camões", "the spheres are transparent, luminous, all of them are seen at the same time with equal clarity; they move, and the movement is perceptible, although the visible surface is always the same. To be able to translate this by the "painting that talks" is to achieve one of the highest points in universal literature."
Modern adaptations
Os Lusíadas 2500 is a futuristic comic version of the Lusiads by Laílson de Holanda Cavalcanti, a Brazilian from PernambucoPernambuco
Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. To the north are the states of Paraíba and Ceará, to the west is Piauí, to the south are Alagoas and Bahia, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. There are about of beaches, some of the most beautiful in the...
state. Camões' work is not altered but the comic uses more fantastical gods and scarier sea-monsters; the caravels are transformed into spaceships and the sea to outer space, to draw youngsters to the Portuguese language's most important literary work.
External links
- The Lusiads (in English at Gutenberg.org in many formats.)
- Os Lusíadas, online edition
- Os Lusíadas , full text provided by Project GutenbergProject GutenbergProject Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
- Mickle's 1776 English translation, full text at sacred-texts.com
- Os Lusíadas , audiobook by LibrivoxLibriVoxLibriVox is an online digital library of free public domain audiobooks, read by volunteers and is probably, since 2007, the world's most prolific audiobook publisher...
Specific existing foreign versions of Os Lusíadas
- Les Lusiades
- Die Lusiaden
- Los Lusiadas
- I Lusiadi
- Lusiade
- Os Lusíadas
- Os Lusíadas
- Os Lusíadas
- Луиш де Камоэнс. Лузиады
- Os Lusíadas
- Os Lusíadas
- Lusovci
- Os Lusíadas
- La Luzidoj
- Os Lusíadas
- Os Lusíadas
Google books
- The Lusiads translated by Richard Francis Burton
- The Lusiads of Camoens translated by J. J. Aubertin