Os Lusíadas, usually translated as The Lusiads, is a Portuguese epic poem written by Luís Vaz de Camões and first published in 1572. It is widely regarded as the most important work of Portuguese-language literature and is frequently compared to Virgil's Aeneid. The work celebrates the discovery of a sea route to India by the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama (1469–1524). The ten cantos of the poem are in ottava rima and total 1,102 stanzas.
Os Lusiadas – Canto IV – 87
Pictorial book in Municipal Library of Campo Maior, in Piauí, Brazil.
Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira, was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea.
Bronze statue of Vasco da Gama at his birthplace, Sines, Portugal
Vasco da Gama leaving the port of Lisbon, Portugal
Monument to the Cross of Vasco da Gama at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa