Sleep and Sleepiness in Os Lusíadas* by Camões: A Neurobiological Exploration on the 500th Anniversary

Abstract

As we commemorate the fifth centenary of Luís de Camões’ birth, this article proposes a reinterpretation of Os Lusíadas through the lens of contemporary neuroscience, analyzing representations of sleep and sleepiness. By examining thirteen passages scattered throughout the epic poem, we investigate how Camões employs these motifs not merely as narrative devices but as symbolic and cognitive tools. Through the convergence of Renaissance literature and modern science, this study reveals how the human experience of rest, awakening, and physical or moral inertia is poetically depicted with surprising neurobiological precision. By linking specific excerpts to phenomena such as the sleep-wake cycle, circadian regulation, memory consolidation, and dream activity, we uncover a Camões attuned to the complexities of the human condition - a poet whose work anticipates, through poetic language, dimensions now explored by sleep neuroscience.