Lusiads Cantos II-III

I was really struck de Gama’s trust of the Muslims after they betrayed him. “So easily can a trusting soul be taken in by appearances” (canto 2, stanza 16). Like many of my peers, I was wondering just how stupid the Portuguese could be. They keep allowing themselves to be burned by everyone. But then my professor mentioned how the Christian convicts sent to investigate the Muslims reminded her of UN Weapons Inspectors. This got me thinking about how Americans keep letting themselves be burned just like the Portuguese. Prior to 2001, the United States fell victim to terrorist attacks by Muslim fundamentalist. The WTC bombings, the Cole, in Africa one of the American embassies was bombed… But it didn’t sink in until 9/11 that there were people who were against America. (Now I have some wicked crazy ideas about the attack that are not popular with everyone. There's a really interesting article from a professor at BYU I think every American should be familiar with titled "Why Indeed Did the WTC Buildings Collapse?" by Steven E. Jones. Any major search engine can find it.) So I think we have to ask ourselves, do we want to live in a country that trusts people or do we want to live in a country we can be burned? I like my civil liberties, so I vote that live in a country that allows us to trust people and maybe be burned or have another attack like 9/11.
Back to the Lusiads, I really love his epic similes. They are very different from Homer or Virgil, but they are extremely poignant. In canto 2, stanza 23 features a simile about ants that really shows how the nymphs struggled to keep the Lusitanians alive. It shows how the odds were stacked up against them, but they continue to fight for their freedom.