Interest in Plato Metaphysicus has been as intense, and even more sustained, than interest in Plato Politicus. Some thinkers who might well dislike his political doctrine have found themselves caught up in controversy over his metaphysics, or his discussion of the meaning of the verb ‘to be’. It is a sheer impossibility to present a résumé of the actual discussions in the confined area of a brief summary: all that can be attempted is a chronicle of the issues that have occasioned most controversy in recent years. This will entail crossing dialogue boundaries and treating ‘themes’, though one should remember that each dialogue really has its particular quality and makes its own approach to the question or questions it considers.