Le parole e il cosmo. Il Cratilo e il Papiro di Derveni

This article deals with the relationship between the Derveni Papyrus and Plato’s Cratylus. This issue is considered in terms of the process of word formation. As a result of this investigation, many analogies and differences come to the fore. In particular, Plato turns out to share several linguistic features with the Derveni Papyrus, although this does not entail a common philosophical account. Plato draws upon the culture also mirrored by the Papyrus by means of a complex strategy of ‘resemantization’.