The articles written by the PÚBLICO Brasil team are written in the variant of the Portuguese language used in Brazil.
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We can learn a lot from mythologies. They help us to identify good and bad natures and to understand human relationships and their implications. Myths hold within them the key to understanding the world and our analytical mind.
Mythologies are filled with historical legends, tales about gods and goddesses, ancient wars and journeys from the underworld that reveal the human intellect and the depth of their plots.
They arose from the need that the Greeks felt to explain the origin of life and the problems of existence. It was an instigating concern that was confused with poetry and mythology and led to the creation of immortal gods, similar to human beings.
Based on some Greek legends, such as the Pieria fountain, we understand that the game that is played at decisive historical moments begins in the school yard, and that, during recess, the general rehearsal of what we will be and how we will position ourselves takes place. in the world. In other words, it is the time to choose — when there is a possibility — which water to drink at the Pieria fountain.
Alexander Pope, one of the most important British poets of the 18th century, was just 21 years old when he wrote the Essay on Criticismusing the Greek legend of the Pieria fountain, which inspired those who drank from it, to warn about the dangers of limited knowledge and the importance of gaining knowledge.
In the book — the first on literature to be published in Brazil under the aegis of the Crown, by the Count of Aguiar, in 1810 —, there is a stanza stating that restricted knowledge is a risk, because “shallow sips intoxicate the brain”.
The legend tells that drinking from the Pieria spring, located in ancient Macedonia and where the nine muses of arts and sciences were born, determined the framework of the human intellect. Man could drink from shallow waters and remain ignorant, with little knowledge, or sip from deep waters to acquire knowledge. There was then the possibility of choice.
It’s a legend about the importance of culture and the risks of little knowledge. It teaches that deep waters educate the mind through reading, research and uplifting discussions. It indicates that those who read and study, think and act better, becoming capable of basing decisions based on the knowledge accumulated over the years. Those who do not go beyond the edges of the source remain in the darkness of ignorance.
Unfortunately, it is not a choice for everyone in Brazil, where more than a million children between the ages of 4 and 5 are out of school. The same occurs with teenagers between 15 and 17 years old. It is estimated that 9.8 million young people, between 15 and 29 years old, that is, 19.9% of the population in this age group, have not completed basic education. They are those condemned to drink from the shallow waters of the Pieria fountain.
