Luís de Camões, Os Lusíadas [The Lusiads]

Kenneth David Jackson (Yale University)

Ed. by Stuart Green, University of Leeds
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.6.3.00: Portuguese Writing and Culture, 700-present.
Vol. editors: Stuart Green (University of Leeds), Duncan Wheeler (University of Leeds)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1572

Places

Portugal (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Epic
Poem

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

Os Lusíadas

, published in Lisbon in 1572, is an epic poem in ten cantos written in decasyllabic ottava rima with rhyme scheme ABABABCC by Luís de Camões (1524?-1580) and considered one of the foremost works of world literature. Prime sources for its study are Manuel Faria e Sousa’s commented edition (Madrid, 1639; rpt.

Lusíadas de Luís de Camões, Comentadas por Manuel de Faria e Sousa

, Introdução de Jorge de Sena, Lisboa, 1972) and the recent

Dicionário de Luís de Camões

compiled by Vítor Aguiar e Silva (Lisbon, 2011). The title, “Lusíadas”, is a neologism referring to the deeds of the Portuguese people. C.W. Bowra compares the epic with Virgil, Tasso, and Milton (

From Virgil to Milton

, London, 1945); in Portugal it is considered to be the greatest work in the national…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

3166 words

Citation: Jackson, Kenneth David. "Os Lusíadas". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 February 2014 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=31967, accessed 24 November 2024.]

Luís de Camões, Os Lusíadas [The Lusiads]

Dates

Places

Genres and Modes

Resources

Save this article

Leave Feedback