Of the ancient Greek philosophies about reality and illusion, Plato's are the most detailed. In Plato's Theory of Forms, there is the 'World of Appearances' and the 'Intelligible World.' The world of appearances include imagining and belief. Imagining is the lowest form of perception and belief is common-sense thinking without actual knowledge. The world of appearances is unreal because it includes visible things and images. The intelligible world includes thinking and intelligence. Thinking is understanding but not quite what Plato would dub perfect knowledge. The intelligible world is real because it includes intangible things: ideas. According to Plato, reality does not change. Things that change are not real. Ideas and forms do not change ever, but physical things do. Physical objects have actions wrought upon th

Ideas and forms are real because they cannot decay or change which makes them permanent and eternal. Things that one perceives with his senses cannot be real because the senses are not truthful. They are like a film that covers the mind. Not only can physical, tangible things change, but also people can perceive the same object differently. Plato's basic theory is that an idea is more real than an instance of that idea. This theory is represented by the cave in Plato's Allegory of the Cave. The cave represents the world of appearances, of illusion, of ignorance, and of change.

The Greek philosopher Heracleitus has an opposing view that is not so apparent at first glance. Heracleitus believed that reality is change because of his view on materialism. "Men would not have known the name of Justice were it not for these things. That is, justice is known only through injustice." (Heracleitus 26). This is saying that one cannot conceive of justice without it's opposite, injustice. This goes with Heracleitus' theories on the union of opposites. Given this assumption, Heracleitus would say the same of materials (tangible things) and form (ideas). One cannot conceive of ideas if there are no tangible objects. Opposites are required to explain the value of both materials and forms. Therefore, materials are just as real as ideas are, if not more so. According to Heracleitus, everything changes and has transformations,

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