I suppose it's appropriate that my 50th book, which I guess is some sort of milestone, read of 2025 if Luis Vaz de Camoes's The Lusiads. It is considered to be the national epic of Portugal, and was published in 1572. I've been meaning to read it for some time, and I have a couple copies, but was finally inspired to read it because, in a wild flight of fancy (or maybe not so wild flight of fancy), I figured out a role that it could play at the thematic essay at the end of my chapter on Virgil's Aeneid. In some ways, that is a very natural fit. Camoes, like Virgil, intended to write a work that would celebrate the greatness of their homeland, with Virgil building upon Homer, and Camoes building upon Virgil. Consider this opening, "Arms are my theme," which is obviously inspired by Virgil's opening to the Aeneid, "Wars and a man I sing." The opening continues:
Arms are my theme, and those matchless heroes
Who from Portugal's far western shores
By oceans where none had ventured
Voyaged to Taprobana and beyond,
Enduring hazards and assaults
Such as draw on more than human prowess
Among far distance people, to proclaims
A New Age and win undying fame.
While Virgil built upon the legend of Aeneas, who, as we know, plays a not insubstantial role in the Iliad, to tell his tale, Camoes refashions the story of Vasco da Gama to construct his own epic. It's definitely recommended, and not simply because of my love of Portugal.
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