Cervantes’ last published novel belongs to the genre of the Byzantine novel. The author dedicated Los Trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda to Pedro Fernández de Castro y Andrade, VII Conde de
Lemos, on 19 April of 1616, four days before Cervantes’ death. He was inspired to write a novel in the vein of the works of Heliodorus of Emesa, Syria, a Greek writer generally dated to the
third century AD who is now known chiefly for the ancient Greek romance called the Aethiopica.Cervantes’ novel is a romantic tale of travels by sea and land, featuring both real and fantastical
geography and history mixed together, with the scene of the second half of the novel being transferred to Spain and Italy. Interestingly, though Cervantes is known primarily for Don Quixote,
which is now widely regarded as one of the foremost classic novels ever written, the author himself considered Los Trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda to be his crowning achievement in
literature.
