Lusus

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Mention of Luso / Lysa as children of Bacchus and namesake of Lusitania in Camões' Lusiaden , Canto III, 21.6
Depiction of Lusus similar to that of Bacchus / Dionysus (illustration of the Lusiads from 1880)

Lusus ( Portuguese Luso ) is a figure in Portuguese national mythology introduced by Luís de Camões in his 1572 epic The Lusiads .

description

In Camões, based on the epic of Greek and Roman literature, The Lusiads , Lusus is a son or companion of Bacchus on his campaigns. The southwestern part of the Iberian Peninsula, where Lusus finally settles, is named Lusitania after him :

These are the meadows of the Lusitanierland,
Lend the name of Lusus or Lysa,
The sprouts of Bacchus or companions of war,
Who transfigured our country as the first gentlemen.
Esta foi Lusitânia, derivada
De Luso, ou Lisa, que de Baco antigo
Filhos foram, parece, ou companheiros,
E nela então os Íncolas primeiros.

and

This is Lusus, and legend has it,
That our country bears its name from him.
A son of Theber or his companion,
Does he conquer many a country with him:
There you can see how, always following his sword
He has reached the Hispanic beach.
Este que vês é Luso, donde a fama
O nosso Reino Lusitânia chama.
Foi filho e companheiro do Tebano,
Que tão diversas partes conquistou;
Parece vindo ter ao ninho Hispano
Seguindo as armas, que contino usou.

Lusus is only mentioned in flashbacks when referring to the epic from the history of Portugal. The actual plot is the discovery of the sea ​​route to India by Vasco da Gama and other descendants of Lusus, the so-called Lusiads , and how their ancestor Bacchus tries to prevent the discovery of the route to India.

background

The name Lusos was adopted from Camões by Portuguese poets of the early 16th century who still wrote their works in Latin. He chose this antique-sounding name because he closely followed Virgil's Aeneid when designing his work . He tried to follow the tradition of Roman epics and adopted the ancient topos of taking a country or ethnic group based on an eponymous hero. In Camões, Lusus has the function of the eponymous hero of the Lusitans .

The origin of the name comes from a mistranslation from the Naturalis historia of Pliny . In the text passage

In universam Hispaniam M. Varro pervenisse Hiberos et Persas et Phoenicas Celtasque et Poenos tradit. lusum enim Liberi patris aut lyssam cum eo bacchantium nomen dedisse Lusitaniae et Pana praefectum eius universae

the ethnic groups named in Varro are reproduced who are said to have colonized Hispania. Lusitania is said to have been named after the games (lusus) held in honor of Bacchus (here Liber pater ) and the frenzy of his followers (lyssa), Pan was its governor. In the translation, both lusus and the Greek word lyssa were interpreted as proper names. A Dionysian rule over Hispania only appears in Plutarch , who, referring to the Iberica des Sosthenes of Knidos, reports that Dionysus also conquered Spain after conquering India and Pan became his governor there, who named the country "Pania" after himself, which later became "Spania".

A note from Diego Hurtado de Mendoza makes it clear that it was a mistranslation handed down in Portugal . He mentions in the Guerra de Granada that Luso is said to have been a leader and Lyssa a girl from the entourage of Dionysus. Even the ancient Romans Varro and Sallust would have taken the view that they were the namesake of the part of Portugal known as Lusitania.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The Lusiads of Luis de Camoëns . Translation by Johann Jakob Christian Donner , HW Beck, 1854.
  2. ↑ Luís de Camões: Os Lusíadas 3, 21.5–8.
  3. ↑ Luís de Camões: Os Lusíadas 8, 2, 7–8, 3, 2.
  4. ^ Cecil Maurice Bowra: From Virgil to Milton . Macmillan, 1967. p. 90.
  5. ↑ Pliny the Elder : Naturalis historia 3, 8.
  6. ^ Leonard Bacon: The Lusiads of Luiz de Camões . Hispanic Society of America, 1950. pp. 119 f.
  7. ↑ Plutarch De fluviorum et montium nominibus et de iis quae in illis inveniuntur s. v. Nilus . Cf. also Sosthenes of Knidos in FrGrHist 846 F1
  8. ↑ Nicholas Meihuizen: Ordering Empire - The Poetry of Camoes, Pringle and Campbell . Bern 2007. p. 50.