The Old Man of Restelo and Vasco da Gama’s endeavor in the Lusíadas epopee

• Autor(a) principal: do Amaral Felipe, Cleber Vinicius
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: ArtCultura (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://seer.ufu.br/index.php/artcultura/article/view/41258

The words uttered by the “Old man of Restelo” in the epic Os lusíadas (1572), by Camões, are part of one of the most commented episodes of the poem. This article proposes an analysis of this character taking into account the language codes of the time, evaluating the mobilization (or imitation) of clichés from tradition or from custom of the epic genre. In his speech, thereare very old topics, such as valuing experience, condemning greed and praising prudence;this makes the passage rich and central in the poem, as it refers to what was expect from Roman Catholic vassals of the Portuguese Crown. This study refutes the hypothesis according to which this episode would be in disharmony with the rest of the epic because it would portray a position that is contrary to the Portuguese maritime endeavor. Keywords: Os lusíadas; Old Man of Restelo; epic genre.