Nardel Ramos

Jocasta, an 18-year-old sociology student and daughter of communist activist Túlio Silveira, is actively involved in the country's political landscape. She is in love with Laio—her polar opposite—a disengaged, esoteric young man who lives off his wealthy father's allowance. A mystic, Laio makes no move without consulting his guru and friend Argemiro, whom he turns to upon learning of Jocasta's pregnancy. The cowrie shell reading reveals that his son is destined to kill him and enter into a romantic relationship with his mother. Terrified, Laio disappears with the child immediately after birth, aided by Argemiro—who loves Laio and loathes Jocasta. Twenty-five years later, Jocasta is a successful yet restless woman searching for her missing son. She is estranged from Laio, who has spent recent years expanding his father's fortune through involvement in underground gambling. On a highway, he encounters Oedipus, unaware that the young man is his son.

A hardworking market vendor, Mrs. Xepa faces many sacrifices to raise her children alone. However, as they achieve social advancement, they begin to feel ashamed of their mother.

On the eve of the Republic, the clash between the monarchist Aristarco and his son Jorge, a defender of the republican cause, enlivened the Ateneu College and sparked passions and persecutions.

Mid-1970s. When the military regime's "economic miracle" and the victory of the Brazilian football team on the World Cup serve as a distraction for the persecution of opposition leaders by the political police of the dictatorship. Under this context, Jofre Godoi da Fonseca, an alienated middle-class man, is mistaken for Sarmento, a political activist he met at an airport prior to his assassination. He is then arrested for being "subversive".