Portuguese epic poetry

Portuguese epic poetry is the epic poetry of Portugal, colonial Brazil, and the frontier luso-galician, luso-leonese and luso-castilian culture. The majority of its works and its themes go from the 15th to the 19 centuries, although themes previous to the imperial cicle of portuguese history that are seen as part of the march towards the empire are also very popular.

History of Portugal's heroic poetry

The most important epic poem of Portuguese literature is The Lusiads, which, though was was the first major Portuguese epic, wasn't the first one.
Formal characteristics

Most of them (at least until the romantic period) used basically the rules and models of classical literature (specially Homer and Virgil)

Cycles and themes
Survival of this epic poetry
Excerpts of epics

Gesta de D. Afonso Henriques

Ca se um dia leixares de fazer justiça um palmo, (If you one day stop making justice a palm)

Logo em outro dia se apartara de ti uma braça (immediately in another day it gets far from you a fathom)

Quotes on epic poetry
 
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