Parmenides imagines philosophy as a journey into a celestial realm driven by a horse-drawn chariot accompanied by maidens Access to the Way of Truth' is granted by a benevolent goddess who stands at the gates of night and day His philosophical successor, Plato, guides his readers not on an ascent but on a descent. Where the descent into the underworld(often called by its Greek name katabasis, meaning going down is a central part of the heroic narratives of Odysseus, orpheus and Heracles, the voyage into the Cave plays a cruciai role in the education of the protagonists in Plato's Republic. Whereas Parmenides' ascent is the narrative of one man's journey towards enlightenment, Plato's journey along the"Way of Seeming' takes us to the depth