Ancient metaphysics and contemporary continental realism have a key goal in common: to investigate how beings exists outside of the descriptions placed on them by language, consciousness, texts and society.This volume addresses the encounters between contemporary and antique philosophies, from Plato, Aristotle and Lucretius to Deieuze, Agamben and Badiou. Alongside these essays are three original and previously unpublished translations of texts by Gilles Deieuze, Pierre Aubenque and Barbara Cassin.