98

While Presocratic fragments seem at first to depreciate the disordered and immature figure of the child, this is mainly to criticize the obvious inability of some adults to act as such. Childhood is a state of germination that is destined to be left behind, and is not so much defined as a privation (of order, measure and reason) than as a promise of a future that adults must nurture. Harmonious growth requires an education that is suited to what children are and what they are capable of, for Συμμετρία (symmetría—symmetry) leads to ἁρμονίη (armoníi—harmony), explaining the significant role of gaming, which combines pleasure with the respect of limits and the mastering of rules. The paradigm of the child as a forming κόσμος (kósmos—world) is reversed by Heraclitus (fr. 52) and Empedocles (fr. 100) when they invite us to understand the universe and the way to wisdom through puzzles involving children playing.