READING OF THE ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE 9 paid to Heidegger's ontological reading of the allegory of the cave and to how it serves the purpose of saying something about nihilism - the forgetfulness of Being - and the prospect of overcoming it. The aim of this paper is to explore the political implications of Heidegger's determination to read the allegory of the cave as a story about the history of human essence. The Platonic resonance of Heidegger's political allegiance to National Socialism is neatly expressed in the "back from Syracuse?" greeting addressed to Heidegger by one of his Freiburg colleagues and quoted by Gadamer in his homonymous article.7 Nevertheless, not enough attention has been paid to the relationship between Heidegger's appropriation of Plato's allegory of the caveduring the early 30's and his allegiance to National Socialism. This paper tries to make this relationship explicit by focusing on Heidegger's interpretation of the allegory as a story about human essence (Wesen) and the occurrence (Geschehen) of historical existence. Three interrelated suggestions are made: (1) That Heidegger's reading of the allegory of the cave is informed by his preoccupation with the imminent threat of nihilism, (2) that Heidegger's interpretation radicalizes his critique of the public sphere to the effect that it renders it irredeemable, and (3) that the unbridgeable gap between philosophy and the public sphere commits Heidegger to the anticipation of a catastrophic event that will open up the possibility of genuine freedom. 2. The Destiny of Being as Nihilism In Heidegger on Being and Acting,