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.
Highlights
The discovery of the Derveni Papyrus has allowed us to know better the importance of the etymological analysis in the orphic circles
Sobre la base de esta distribución tripartita, se ha querido ver una primera división platónica de los tres grandes apartados de la filosofía, física, ética y lógica: «In short, Plato has an embryonic tripartition of philosophy into physics, ethics and logic», Sedley 1998, p. 149
Veladamente, Sócrates procedió del mismo modo que el autor del papiro: dar a entender que si bien Orfeo, aparentemente, estaba utilizando un adjetivo común con un sentido evidente para todo el mundo, kallivrroo", ‘de hermosa corriente’, en realidad quería decir otra cosa muy distinta que muy pocos pueden captar: que enigmáticamente, con ese adjetivo, Orfeo se estaba refiriendo a la diosa Rea
Summary
The discovery of the Derveni Papyrus has allowed us to know better the importance of the etymological analysis in the orphic circles.
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