Adamastor is a mythological character created by the Portuguese poet
LuÃs de Camões
LuÃs Vaz de Camões (; or 1525 – 10 June 1580), sometimes rendered in English as Camoens or Camoëns ( ), is considered Portugal's and the Portuguese language's greatest poet. His mastery of verse has been compared to that of William Shakes ...
in his
epic poem
In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard to ...
''
Os LusÃadas
''Os LusÃadas'' (), usually translated as ''The Lusiads'', is a Portuguese epic poem written by LuÃs Vaz de Camões ( – 1580) and first published in 1572. It is widely regarded as the most important work of Portuguese-language literature ...
'' (first printed in 1572), as a personification of the
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...
, symbolizing the dangers of the sea and the formidable forces of nature challenged and ultimately overcome by the Portuguese during the
Age of Discovery
The Age of Discovery (), also known as the Age of Exploration, was part of the early modern period and overlapped with the Age of Sail. It was a period from approximately the 15th to the 17th century, during which Seamanship, seafarers fro ...
. Adamastor manifests itself out of a storm.
Background
Camões gave his creation a backstory as one of the
Giants
A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore.
Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to:
Mythology and religion
*Giants (Greek mythology)
* Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'g ...
of
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...
, banished to the
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...
by sea goddess Doris for falling in love with her daughter Tethis, now appearing out of a storm cloud and threatening to ruin anyone hardy enough to attempt passing the Cape and penetrate the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
, which was Adamastor's domain. Adamastor became the spirit of the Cape of Good Hope, a hideous phantom of unearthly pallor:
Vasco da Gama, ahead of the Portuguese expedition, confronts the creature by asking ''"Who are you?"'', prompting Adamastor to tell his story.
Deeply moved, the giant eventually vanishes, dispersing the clouds and calming the sea, leaving the path towards
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
open.
Adamastor represented the dangers Portuguese sailors faced when trying to round the Cape of Storms – ''Cabo das Tormentas'' – henceforth called the
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...
.
Legacy
A popular gathering place in Lisbon is known by the name 'Adamastor' because of the large stone statue of the mythical figure which presides over the space, which is officially called the Miradouro de Santa Catarina. The location offers visitors some of the most scenic views of the
Tagus
The Tagus ( ; ; ) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales between Cuenca and Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally westward, and empties into the Atlantic Ocean in Lisbon.
Name
T ...
river, the
25 de Abril Bridge
The 25 de Abril Bridge (, 25th of April Bridge, ) is a suspension bridge connecting the city of Lisbon, capital of Portugal, to the municipality of Almada on the left (south) bank of the Tagus, Tagus River. It has a main span length of , ma ...
and the Cristo-Rei monument.
The Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa included in his 1934 book ''Mensagem'' a number of verses dedicated to Adamastor, entitled ''O Mostrengo'' ("The Hideous Monster")
Adamastor, both the mythological character and the sculpture, are mentioned several times in
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Meyer Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart and Richard Wa ...
. The slave Nelusko sings a song about Adamastor while he deliberately steers the ship into a storm and it sinks.
It is mentioned by
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician.
His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...
'' (III, Marius, chap III) and in a poem dedicated to Lamartine (''
Les Feuilles d'automne
''Les Feuilles d'Automne'' (, ) is a collection of poems written by Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, huma ...
'', chap IX).
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright.
His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...
Herman Melville
Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...
mentions Adamastor and Camões in his ''Billy Budd'', at the end of Chapter VII.
Adamastor is also the name of a sauropod dinosaur, '' Angolatitan adamastor'', found in Angola, named by the paleontologist
Octávio Mateus
Octávio Mateus (born 1975) is a Portugal, Portuguese dinosaur paleontologist and biologist Professor of Paleontology at the Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da NOVA University Lisbon, Universidade Nova de Lisboa. He graduated in University of à ...
.
Etymology
The name Adamastor is an adaptation for the Portuguese language from the Greek word for "Untamed" or "Untameable" (''Adamastos'') (which the Portuguese did tame)."Adamastor, n." ''Dictionary of South African English''. Dictionary Unit for South African English, 2018 25 February 2019.