Lusíadas (The Lusiads), considered one of the best Portuguese literary works. Written by Luis de Camões, it focuses mainly on a fantastical interpretation of the Portuguese discoveries movement, in the 14th to 17th centuries.
In the book, written as a poem in the Homeric fashion, Camões gives the Portuguese a common descendance from Luso, a companion of Dionysus, and loosely describes the country's history until the mid 16th century - concentrating on giving a heroic edge to the jouney of Vasco da Gama (the first European to reach India by sea).
