The Cratylus, Plato's sole dialogue devoted to the relation between language and reality, is acknowledged to be one of his masterpieces. But owing to its often enigmatic content no more than a handful of passages from it have played a part in the global evaluation of Plato's philosophy. This new English translation by C D C Reeve is the first since 1926, and incomparably the most helpful and accessible now available. It opens up the Cratylus to all philosophically interested readers, as well as to cultural historians and to those whose primary concern is the history of linguistics. The full and lucid introduction does much to illuminate the internal dynamic of this important text and to explain its place within Plato's oeuvre.