Luis de Camoes Returns to Lisbon

1567

The soldier-poet Luis de Camoes, having spent seventeen years in Portuguese Asia and East Africa, returned to Lisbon carrying the manuscript of his epic poem Os Lusiadas, which celebrated Vasco da Gama's voyage and the Portuguese maritime empire. Published in 1572, it would become the Portuguese national epic. Os Lusiadas combined epic structure with eyewitness observation, making it both a literary masterpiece and an invaluable historical document.