At the time of the Greek Empire, when they defined themselves as the world power, the creation and development of both physical and social sciences were in a revolution. One notable science that saw giant strides in development was the sciences of philosophy, a system of logic, debate, and the desire for wisdom. The best known and most listened to of these men was the formidable Aristotle, but the importance here is in one student, Plato. Plato was an idealistic philosopher, who saw beyond the physical constraints of life into his higher beliefs that formless ideas were a truth of life and reality. In these he saw mathematics and the logical concepts that underlie it, as well as defined forms, pure concepts only partially represented in the real world, such as the form of beauty. Furthermore, his highest level of reality resided in a form of goodness, in which human beings desire just and good things. In the allegorical tale of the cave, part of the larger work The Republic, Plato told his ideas through a story; one that is designed to teach, inform and explain. By examining and summarizing the cave, the connection between the story and Plato's worldview can be made. The story of the cave portrays a group of people, chained for life in a somewhat dark cave. Enough light exists to show shadows on a wall in front of them, and in these shadows myriad objects and shapes are displayed; objects and shapes portraying all these prisoners have known. This leads to a prisoner being freed from chains and forced out, past a fire and people carrying different objects which create the shadows below. He is next dragged down a rugged, rocky path into a world that is blinding and painful to see above. Outside the protective confines of the cave, at the center of the card, one can identify the prisoner's defining experience in the truth of life, the links to a greater-than-physical existence in Plato's worldview. .The myth of the cave was a powerful tool developed by Plato to explain his worldview. It allowed him to teach abstract concepts using tangible concepts. By examining the prisoner's journey and the experiences he went through, Plato's vision of the philosopher is defined. Furthermore, the outside world shows the nature of his worldly and metaphysical views and beliefs. Ultimately the return of the prisoner to the cave, as well as simply the beginning of the cave of the trapped prisoners, provides an explanation of human nature and goals. Even if it by no means represents a definitive break with Platonic philosophy, it is a starting point for understanding his fundamental beliefs, those that contributed to shaping future hypotheses..