The Lusiad
According
to the Book, The Lusiad can be challenging to get through. After the struggle
of “Gargantua and Pantagruel” the reading of “The Lusiad” was the smoothest
thing ever. Take that Rabelais!
“The
Lusiad” is something a kin to a national epos of Portugal, centered around
Vasco da Gama’s voyage to India. It is a celebration of that event, but also a
lot more. It is a celebration of the heritage Portugal builds on, leading up to
the sea journey, especially the Reconquista (kicking out the Moors from the
Iberian peninsula) and the rivalry with Castille, but also the heritage
following the journey as Vasco da Gama kicked off Portugal’s golden age.
The form of
this epos is Homerian. That basically means that Camões, the author, makes as
many connections as he possibly can to antiquity, starting with the format.
“The Lusiad” is a poem composed of eight-line stanzas and divided into ten
cantos. That elicited an involuntary groan when I realized that, but it turned
out to be no problem at all. Probably thanks to the translator the text is very
fluid and has hardly been abused to fit it into the format. In fact, it is easy
to forget that this is a poem.
Secondly
Camões presents da Gama as a heroic character in parallel to Ulysses. In Camões
optic, the exploits of da Gama are no less than those of Ulysses, even down to
mystical elements and divine interventions.
Da Gama would and should blush had he read it, but, alas, it was
published long after his death.
Thirdly
Camões invents elements to the story that involves antique Greek and Roman
goods. Bacchus, Venus, Jupiter and Mars are featured about as much as da Gama
and elevates the expedition into the sphere of old goods and heroes. The
objective is obvious, to make that Homerian connection, but these are also the
weakest and frankly annoying parts of the story.
What works
however are everything that concerns the expedition itself. It is apparent that
Camões was very familiar with the actual journey and had extensive experience
from sea voyages himself as well as spent time in many of the same places.
India is not mysterious, far off place, but somewhere he had seen himself and
the vagaries on long boat trips he had felt on his own body. That lends an
authenticity to his description that are both factual and realistic and
completely at odds with all the antique stuff.
Of course
there is a lot of white wash. Camões gives tricky situations a spin that places
da Gama and the Portuguese in general in the right light. In such cases the
excellent notes helps to clarify the reality behind. Portuguese who use the
story to feel proud of their national achievements do not need to be told that
the goods da Gama brought were completely uninteresting to the Indians. The
story also use an inordinately long time on a story da Gama tells the Sultan of
Malindi about the background of the Portuguese. If you think about it I doubt a
Muslim Sultan would enjoy hearing about Portuguese killing droves of Muslim
Moors and bring the word of God to distant shores. The function of that story
is to educate us, the listener, on the heroic origin of Portugal.
Still, I
enjoyed the book very much. It is not overly long, but full of fascinating
details and written to be told an audience caught in rapt attention. It cannot
overstay its welcome and it does not. If I was Portuguese I would be pretty
damn proud of this epos, but maybe also a bit discomfited by the atrocities and
intolerance being committed and expressed toward people of different faith.
Curiously I
am actually in India right now writing this (in New Delhi for a trade fair) and
it makes the story so much more relevant and alive. I may be five hundred years
late, but I am following in the footsteps of Vasco da Gama.
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