The story is considered to be the first or one of the first works of literature in the New World (cf. Cabeza de Vaca's "Naufragios"—"Shipwrecked" or "Castaways") for its fantastical/religious elements, it is arguable whether that is a "traveler's account" or actual literature; and Bernal Díaz del Castillo's "Historia verdadera de la conquista de Nueva España" ("The Conquest of New Spain"). "La Araucana"’s more dramatic moments also became a source of plays. But the Renaissance epic is not a genre that has, as a whole, endured well, and today Ercilla is little known and "La Araucana" is rarely read except by specialists and students of Spanish and Latin American literatures, and of course in Chile, where it is subject of special attention in the elementary schools education both in language and history.