From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Os Lusíadas ("The Lusiads") is considered one of the most important, and finest, works of Portuguese literature. Written by Luís de Camões, the epic poem focuses mainly on a fantastical interpretation of the Portuguese discoveries movement, in the 14th to 17th centuries.
In the book, written as a poem in the Homeric fashion, Camões gives the Portuguese people a common descendance from Luso, a companion of Dionysus, and loosely describes the country's history until the mid 16th century – concentrating on giving a heroic edge to the jouney of Vasco da Gama (the first European to reach India by sea).
