A latin myth under the Guru's lenses

"Eros uma vez...", by Millôr Fernandes

Abstract

Journalist, humorist and cartoonist Millôr Fernandes (1923-2012) explored several facets of Western culture in his graphic and literary works. Drawing influence from the classics, his forays resulted in narratives about gods and heroes of Greco-Roman mythology, presented as fables in Aesopian style. With equal amounts of childlike curiosity and caustic questioning, these fable-like recreations reflect the permanence and transience of social, political, and gender dynamics, thus proposing a new perspective on the values prevalent in 20th and 21st century Brazil. Over this background, this article proposes an analysis of the fable “Eros uma vez…”, in which the so-called “Guru of Méier” engages in a particular manner of reception of ancient literature. In active dialogue with the tale of Cupid and Psyche, part of The Golden Ass by Latin Neoplatonic novelist and philosopher Apuleius (2nd century d.c.), Millôr’s fable transmutes the allegorical search of the human soul for Cupid’s love into a parody of the incapacity for spiritual elevation, as a nihilistic lesson on the absurdity of humanity surrendered to its inherent cupidic capacities. Through his usual conciseness, erratic and precise prose, and blatant erudition, we follow the Brazilian fabulist on his endeavour to shed light upon the possibilities bequeathed in the base literature, having myth both as an ongoing mean by which truths are broadcast, and also as a relevant vector for the dismantling of all sorts of establishments.