Cratylus
by Plato
Reading #37 ("Memorabilia 3", 2026)
Abstract
Socrates, Hermogenes, and Cratylus discuss whether names—or even all words—have a natural basis or not, in a dialogue filled with etymological digression.
Bibliographic Data
| Kind | Term |
|---|---|
| authors | Plato |
| literary form | dialogue |
| genres | Socratic dialogue |
| subjects | etymology, linguistics, philosophy, laws, logic, pre-history |
| period | Classical Greece, 5th c. BCE, 4th c. BCE |
| language | Ancient Greek, Attic Greek |
| same as | wikidata | wikipedia |
| keywords & tags | none |
Contextual Relations
Refers To
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Referenced By
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Notes
383–384a A simple framing—told by Hermogenes—from where we begin: He and Cratylus have been having a discussion on the meaning of names, and the latter contends that a name belongs to each thing by nature.
385b–c Remark on charging for knowledge
if I’d attended Prodicus’ fifty-drachma lecture course […] I’ve heard only the one-drachma course, I don’t know the truth about it.