The myth of Adamastor in postmodernity. Between legend and art, fiction and history

Abstract

When Camões composed The Lusiads, he used classical mythology both as a second line of action and as an element of wonder in order to embellish it. Moreover, he decided to innovate too, by creating the figure of Adamastor, a giant in love with a nymph, who is eventually transformed into a rocky mountain. Adamastor, infuriated because the nymph does not love him in return, decides to frighten and haunt anyone sailing nearby his cape, thus symbolizing the obstacles and fears faced by Portuguese navigators in their quest for a sea route to India. The giant, which aroused interest among critics and writers for centuries, has recently inspired two significant postmodern works: Adamastor, Nomen Gigantis (2000), a poetical essay by Vasco Graça Moura on a popular sculpture by José de Guimarães; and a historical novel entitled Adamastor (2008), by E. S. Tagino, where the giant is humanized and represents Camões' fictive experiences in Mozambique in his way back from India to Portugal. Thus, both works offer a privileged field of research regarding contemporary transmission of myth.