The Lusiads Luís Vaz de Camões is one of the greatest epic poems of the Renaissance. The work immortalises Portugal’s voyages of discovery and offers a vivid view of these historical expeditions. The poem focuses on Vasco da Gama’s pioneering journey via South Africa to India in 1497–98.
The story combines classical symbolism such as the Cross and the Astrolabe and celebrates a turning point in the knowledge of the world, linking star maps to new discoveries on earth. Alongside the hymn to discovery, the work also highlights the vulnerability of power and the uncertainties of nation-building.
This edition contains the first translation in nearly fifty years, with an extensive introduction and expert annotations that provide context and deeper insight.
Product specifications
- Author: Luis Vaz de Camoes
- Publisher: Oxford University Press
- Publication date: 2008-06-12
- Number of pages: 288
- ISBN: 9780199539963
- Theme: Poetry / poems by individual poets
About the author
Landeg White is the former director of the Centre for Southern African Studies at the University of York and former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Southern African Studies (OUP). He is also a poet and author of works on colonialism, Apartheid, and African poetry. His recent publication is Bridging the Zambezi: a Colonial Folly (Macmillan, 1993).