In class today I found our discussion of who the true hero is in The Lusiads, to be very interesting. An epic by definition usually has a mortal hero that goes on an adventure and the reader generally wants to root for. Dictionary.com defines an epic as: “a long poetic composition, usually centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events is narrated”. However, in this epic, although Vasco da Gama would be the most likely candidate as the hero, he does not appear to be a very heroic figure. The normal definition of an epic would point to da Gama as he is the one that adventures to ‘unknown’ lands. But, if for a moment we pretended that a mortal did not have to be the hero of the story, one of the gods or goddesses in the story could take that role. Depending on the point of view, it could be that Venus or even Bacchus is the ‘hero’. For the Portuguese Venus would be the hero, while Bacchus would be the enemy. Venus is the goddess that is helps da Gama on his travels. However, for the natives of the lands that da Gama is trying to colonize, Bacchus could actually be the hero. He is trying to prevent da Gama’s success, and consequently is protecting them from the dangers that he would bring to them and the pain he would inflict.
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I feel like you raise a lot of good points here about who the possible hero could be. While hearing the thoughts that people had in class on Wednesday, I think that the possible hero of the epic could be more collective. I think that the point of the epic so far is to proclaim the relevance and authority of the Portuguese, and so the kingdom of Portugal collectively could be the true hero of the epic. Da Gama, Camões, and Venus all further the goals of increasing Portugal’s legacy and relevance in the world stage, both on maps and politically. Still, I think that to prescribe the title of “hero of the epic” to an entire country as a collective idea is a bit ambitious.