Nueva interpretación del Crátilo platónico a partir de las aportaciones del papiro de Derveni

Abstract

The discovery of the Derveni Papyrus has allowed us to know better the importance of the etymological analysis in the orphic circles. The anonymous author of the papyrus analysed about twenty verses of an orphic theogony. He believed that the words used by Orpheus contained a deep and enigmatic meaning. The aim of Plato, when he wrote the Cratylus, would have been to discredit a method which he considered unable to bring a true knowledge. He discredited this method by proposing absurd etymologies. According to Plato, the etymological explanation depended on the talent of the person who offered it. For this reason, there were a lot of different interpretations of the same word. To prove it, he expounded his own etymologies to deride those, who – like the orphics – believed that the etymological explanation of a word described its essence.