The national epic of Portugal is the work of Luis de Camoëns, who,
inspired by patriotic fervor, sang in Os Lusiades of the discovery of
the eagerly sought maritime road to India. Of course, Vasco da Gama is
the hero of this epic, which is described _in extenso_ further on.

In imitation of Camoëns, sundry other Portuguese poets attempted epics
on historical themes, but none of their works possess sufficient
merits to keep their memory green.

During the sixteenth century, many versions of the prose epics or
romances of chivalry were rife, Amadis de Gaule and its sequel,
Palmerina d'Inglaterra, being the most popular of all.

Later on Meneses composed, according to strict classic rules, a
tedious epic entitled Henriqueida, in praise of the monarch Henry, and
de Macedo left O Oriente, an epical composition which: enjoyed a
passing popularity.




THE LUSIAD


_Introduction._ The author of the Portuguese epic, Luis de Camoëns,
was born at Lisbon in 1524. Although his father, commander of a
warship, was lost at sea during his infancy, his mother contrived to
give him a good education, and even sent him to the University at
Coimbra, where he began to write poetry. After graduating Camoëns