Reza Yavari, THE ONE AND THE MANY

” He would need, I believe, to first become accustomed to the light before he could see things in the upper world. First he would find it easier to look at shadows, next at the reflections of men and other objects in water, and later on at the things themselves. After that he would find it easier to observe the sky at night and the heavenly dome, and to look at the light of the moon and stars rather than at the sun and its light by day
‘Finally, I believe, he would be able to look directly at the sun itself, and gaze at it as it is in itself, without using reflections in water or any other medium.”

Plato – Republic – Book VII