Santos Vega was an Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 gaucho

Gaucho

Gaucho is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American pampas, chacos, or Patagonian grasslands, found principally in parts of Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Chile, and Southern Brazil...

, and invincible payador (a kind of minstrel

Minstrel

A minstrel was a medieval European bard who performed songs whose lyrics told stories of distant places or of existing or imaginary historical events. Although minstrels created their own tales, often they would memorize and embellish the works of others. Frequently they were retained by royalty...

 that competed in singing competitions resembling dialectic discussions), who was only defeated by the Devil

Devil

The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...

 himself, disguised as the payador Juan sin Ropa ("John Clothless").

The myth states he is buried near San Clemente del Tuyú

San Clemente del Tuyú

San Clemente del Tuyú is an Argentine town in the Partido de la Costa district of the Province of Buenos Aires.-History:Noticed by Ferdinand Magellan in 1520, who gave nearby Cape San Antonio its name, Spanish authorities first surveyed the area in 1580...

.

President Bartolomé Mitre

Bartolomé Mitre

Bartolomé Mitre Martínez was an Argentine statesman, military figure, and author. He was the President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868.-Life and times:...

 was the first to compose a poem based on the legend. Afterwards, Hilario Ascasubi

Hilario Ascasubi

Hilario Ascasubi was an Argentine poet.Ascasubi was born in the back of a horse drawn cart, in Bell Ville city, while his mother was on her way to a wedding in Buenos Aires....

 wrote "Santos Vega o los Mellizos de la Flor", a long poem in which the minstrel narrates the events. Soon after, Eduardo Gutiérrez published the "Story of Santos Vega and his friend Carmona prosecuted by justice" as a feuilleton

Feuilleton

Feuilleton was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art criticism, a chronicle of the latest fashions, and epigrams, charades and other literary trifles...

. Finally, Rafael Obligado

Rafael Obligado

Rafael Obligado was an Argentine poet and playwright.Obligado was the son of María Jacinta Ortiz Urién and Luis Obligado y Saavedra. During the 1880s, he became known as el poeta del Paraná . He wrote poetry with gaucho themes, but using cultured and educated language...

, inspired on Gutiérrez's work, composed his best poem "Santos Vega", one of the top works of Argentine literature

Argentine literature

Argentine literature is the body of literary work produced in Argentina. Among Argentina's best-known and most influential authors are Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, José Hernández, Jorge Luis Borges, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Roberto Arlt, Julio Cortázar, Manuel Puig, and Ernesto Sabato...

.

Rafael Obligado

Rafael Obligado

Rafael Obligado

Rafael Obligado was an Argentine poet and playwright.Obligado was the son of María Jacinta Ortiz Urién and Luis Obligado y Saavedra. During the 1880s, he became known as el poeta del Paraná . He wrote poetry with gaucho themes, but using cultured and educated language...

's poem is romanticist

Romanticism

Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...

, because it emphasizes nature, twilight, nationalism, and the four elements

Four elements

Four elements may refer to:* Classical elements, such as air, fire, earth and water* 4 Elements, an album by Chronic Future* Group 4 element, one of the chemical elements in Group 4 of the periodic table...

.
It is divided in four cantos: The Minstrel's Soul, The Minstrel's Wife, The Minstrel's Hymn and The Minstrel's Death.
They don't follow a chronological order since the first two feature the "ghost" that inhabitates the pampa

Pampa

The Pampas are the fertile South American lowlands, covering more than , that include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and Córdoba, most of Uruguay, and the southernmost Brazilian State, Rio Grande do Sul...

s, the fourth tells his last duel with the Devil; and the third one was a later addition in which Santos Vega (alive) interrputs a match of Pato

Pato

Pato is a game played on horseback that combine elements from polo and basketball. It is the national sport of Argentina.Pato is Spanish for "duck", as early games used a live duck inside a basket instead of a ball. Accounts of early versions of pato have been written since 1610. The playing field...

 and calls the gauchos to join the May Revolution

May Revolution

The May Revolution was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish colony that included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay...

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