The Lusiads

Luis de Camoes’s epic poem The Lusiads (1572) provides a fantastical interpretation of the Portuguese voyages to India and Southeast Asia. The book depicts the Portuguese as victors and heroes, taking a generally laudatory tone, suggesting that the Portuguese were sent by the fates to explore the Americas and that they are beloved by the gods for their deeds. Considered a foundational work in Portuguese literature, it is frequently compared to Virgil's Aeniad. Camoes was in exile when he wrote the book, which was published three years after his journey to the East Indies.

The poem is structured in ten sections, or cantos, each with a decasyllabic ottava rima rhyme scheme, meaning that each line has ten syllables and the lines rhyme in the following pattern: ABABABCC. The first canto introduces the heroes of the poem, appeals to the fates and the gods for their blessing, and provides a dedication to Dom Sebastian the First, the king of Portugal at the time of writing. The epic story begins halfway through the first canto in the middle of the action, going back later to tell the backstory of the Portuguese’s journey.

The adventure begins with the Greek gods watching over the sailing of Vasco da Gama. Much like the great Greek classics, the gods are split in their loyalties – Venus prefers the Portuguese ships, and Bacchus defends the eastern territories upon which the Portuguese encroach. As the crew rounds the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, Bacchus disguises himself as a Moor and implores the locals to attack the ship. The local Muslims agree, preparing their plot on the ship of Vasco da Gama.



In the second canto, two scouts sent out by the Portuguese ship are fooled when Bacchus creates an altar that tricks them into thinking they are among Christians, when in fact they are among dangerous and angry Muslims. The Muslims ambush the Portuguese, but Venus appeals to her father, Jupiter, who foresees good tidings for the Portuguese; the men escape and sail on. At their next landing, they are greeted by a welcoming Sultan in Melinde.

The third canto takes the reader back in time, telling the history of the nation of Portugal. First, Camoes asks the muse Calliope for her guidance in the telling of this history. Camoes begins with the origin of Portugal as a European power and continues to define what it means to be Portuguese. He finishes with the stories of various powerful Portuguese kings and leaders, particularly of the warrior-kings of the first Portuguese dynasty. Many of these stories include the tales of beautiful Portuguese women, not unlike the Greek Helen, who play prominent roles in distant Portuguese battles.

More history continues in canto four, where Camoes talks about the House of Aviz, which remains in power from 1383 until the sailing of the Vasco da Gama ship to India at the beginning of the narrative. This story talks specifically about Portuguese expansion into Africa. Camoes talks about how many Portuguese rulers dreamed of traveling to the East Indies, but that, finally, Dom Manuel had a dream of the Indus and Ganges rivers and found materials for the Armada to set sail. As the Armada sails off, Camoes recalls the story of the Old Man of the Restelo, a particularly prophetic and pessimistic old man on the beaches who warns the sailors of the fate they will meet in India should they make their journey.



The fifth canto, perhaps the most like the Greek Odyssey, tells the story of the men meeting angry natives, a giant monster named Adamastor, and a plague of scurvy. In cantos six and seven, Bacchus becomes enraged and worries that the Portuguese have almost made it to India, so he sends a great wind to sink the ships. The storm strikes, and Vasco da Gama prays to his God, though Venus is the one who sends the nymphs to seduce the winds and calm them down. The men eventually land in Calicut, where they are greeted warmly.

The men experience trouble in cantos eight and nine, when Bacchus appears to a Muslim priest, warning him that the Portuguese are pirates, not traders. The people of Calicut then force the Portuguese to trade every item on board the ship, as proof that they aren't pirates. Finally, the men flee and Venus rewards them with a safe island and many ocean nymphs whom they are able to easily seduce.

The epic ends with a story from Tethys, a Greek goddess and lover of da Gama who talks about the history of African and Indian exploration, battles fought, and the voyage of Magellan. The book ends with Camoes’s advice to the new King Sebastian about the lands of the East.