The Lusiads

First published in 1572, The Lusiads is one of the greatest epic poems of the Renaissance, immortalizing Portugal's voyages of discovery with an unrivalled freshness of observation. At the centre of The Lusiads is Vasco da Gama's pioneer voyage via southern Africa to India in 1497-98. The first European artist to cross the equator, Camoes's narrative reflects the novelty and fascination of that original encounter with Africa, India and the Far East. The poem's twin symbols are the Cross and the Astrolabe, and its celebration of a turning point in mankind's knowledge of the world unites the old map of the heavens with the newly discovered terrain on earth. Yet it speaks powerfully, too, of the precariousness of power, and of the rise and decline of nationhood, threatened not only from without by enemies, but from within by loss of integrity and vision. The first translation of The Lusiads for almost half a century, this new edition is complemented by an illuminating introduction and extensive notes.

ISBN 0192801511   Pages 286 ISBN13 9780192801517 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Oxford University Press   Weight (grammes) 234 Imprint Oxford Paperbacks   Published in Oxford Format Paperback   Series editor Kermode, Frank Publication date 15 Feb 2001   Series title Oxford world's classics Translator Landeg White   Height (mm) 190 Writer of introduction Landeg White   Width (mm) 120 Library of Congress 97019376   Spine width (mm) 20 DEWEY 869.12   Academic level Undergraduate, Professional / Scholarly, Postgraduate DEWEY edition DC21

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