The lowest segment represents those mere images of physical objects, the shadows and reflections (510a). The next represents the physical objects themselves—the things that non-philosophers take to be really real, like giraffes, rocks, and the Eiffel Tower. These two segments together symbolize the whole visible realm. The second, longer part of the line represents what we can know rather than what we can see (510b). It likewise is divided into two segments. Here we are expecting Socrates to say the two higher segments are supposed to stand for the Forms and then,
