The Old Man of Restelo

Old Restelo (1904), by Columbano Bordallo Pinheiro at the Military Museum in Lisbon.

The Old Man of Restelo (Velho do Restelo), some translations also refer as The Old Man of Belem, is a character introduced by the Portuguese epic poet Luís de Camões in Canto IV of his work the Lusíadas. The Old Man of Restelo is variously interpreted as a symbol of the pessimists, or those who did not believe in the likely success of the then upcoming Portuguese voyages of 'discovery'.^[1] He comes up just before the first expedition to India with warnings about the odyssey that was about to happen:^[2]

This episode begins at the outset of the voyage of Vasco da Gama across unknown oceans. An old man (the Old Man of Restelo) goes down to encounter the occupants of the ships, and confront them on the grounds that emeritous navigators and daredevils, moved by the possibility of fame of greed, glory and riches, sought disaster for themselves and for the people Portuguese.

This is the argument of the Old Men of Restelo against the voyage the Vasco da Gama team was about to undertake:

94 Mas um velho, de aspecto venerando, Que ficava nas praias, entre a gente, Postos em nós os olhos, meneando Três vezes a cabeça, descontente, A voz pesada um pouco alevantando, Que nós no mar ouvimos claramente, C'um saber só de experiências feito, Tais palavras tirou do experto peito: 95 — "Ó glória de mandar! Ó vã cobiça Desta vaidade, a quem chamamos Fama! Ó fraudulento gosto, que se atiça C'uma aura popular, que honra se chama! Que castigo tamanho e que justiça Fazes no peito vão que muito te ama! Que mortes, que perigos, que tormentas, Que crueldades neles experimentas!

96 — "Dura inquietação d'alma e da vida, Fonte de desamparos e adultérios, Sagaz consumidora conhecida De fazendas, de reinos e de impérios: Chamam-te ilustre, chamam-te subida, Sendo digna de infames vitupérios; Chamam-te Fama e Glória soberana, Nomes com quem se o povo néscio engana! 97 — "A que novos desastres determinas De levar estes reinos e esta gente? Que perigos, que mortes lhe destinas Debaixo dalgum nome preminente? Que promessas de reinos, e de minas D'ouro, que lhe farás tão facilmente? Que famas lhe prometerás? que histórias? Que triunfos, que palmas, que vitórias?

Os Lusíadas, Canto IV, 94-97

No one knows for sure to what degree Camões supported the old view. But there seems to be a contradiction between a portion of his writing and his larger epic about the navigation to the East. On the one hand, there is his enthusiasm for the maritime enterprise and, on the other hand, the speech in question, as well as some other sections of the poem, which exude pessimism and fear.

In a speech on February 19, 2013, the Brazilian President Dilma Vana Rousseff said that Brazil would not have been discovered (by Europeans) if "the Old Man of Restelo prevailed at that time, on that beach, there on the Tagus in Lisbon."^[3]

References

1. Wheeler, Douglas L.; Opello, Walter C. (2010-05-10). Historical Dictionary of Portugal. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810870758.
2. "velho do restelo". www.citi.pt. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
3. "Dilma compara oposição a 'Velhos de Restelo' e nega descontrole da inflação - Política - Estadão". Estadão. Retrieved 2016-03-11.

4. Burton, The Lusiads; Of us the Company, http://www.jrbooksonline.com/PDF_Books/Burton/Os-lusiadas-Vol-1.pdf