This article brings to the center of the debate
on the teaching of ancient history in
Basic Education the contributions of reception
studies and uses of the ancient
world applied to the literature of Northeastern-
Brazilian leaflets. From the study
of the leaflets “O poder oculto da mulher
bonita” (The hidden power of the beautiful
woman) (Recife, 1924) of the poet João
Martins de Athayde, from Paraiba, we will
reflect on how the author summons characters
from classical antiquity to build an
ideal profile of femininity that, in his perspective,
should be followed by his audience.
The potential of poetic construction
for the problematization of both the uses
of the classical past and for the study of the
sociocultural horizon of northeastern Brazil
in the early twentieth century and its
contribution to the re-signification of the
teaching of Ancient History in Basic Education
will be put into perspective.
