The Thermopylae in the poetry of Fernando Cabrita

Abstract

How can Greek history dialogue with contemporary Portuguese poetry? How can it overcome the barrier of erudite generic references? Could it be assumed as a way of reading contemporary history? We intend to find answers to these questions, through the way the Thermopylae episode appears in Fernando Cabrita's poetry. We started by framing the battle within the Herodotean source and outlined marks of the reception of some of its most popular aspects. We were also interested in analysing how this specific episode of Greek history could be a way of reading experiences of Portuguese history in the last third of the 20th century. In the analysis of the poem, we sought universal themes that allow us to understand contemporaneity, with historical references functioning as poetic catachresis.