The Danger at Midday: Death Threats in the Apocalypse 9 especially also the horse that carries the white rider who is the lamb, the word of God (19,11.19.21); – and the birds which are invited to eat the flesh of the conquered (19,17-21). The third and last group involves the four animals which carry the plot: the lamb which is a lion; the red dragon, the beast out of the sea and the beast out of the land. A few matters are important so as to be noted: (1) Against the background of the curiosity about exotic animals which emerges from the lavish organization of the kunhgesiva (24), the composite character of these animals is interesting. The lamb has 7 horns and 7 eyes (5,6) and is equated with a lion (the lion of the tribe of Juda: 5,5); it is a heavenly figure which stands at the inception of the struggle against the dragon and its followers and for this reason gets heavenly praise and honor; in c. 14, after the introduction of the beasts in c.12 and 13, the vision is told of the lamb who stands together with his 144.000 followers on Mt. Zion; in 17,14 the battle is announced and the victory; in the last chapters the metaphor changes: the lamb changes into a rider on a white horse (19,11-16) and the lamb (21,9) gets a bride and is thus himself a sort of bridegroom. The dragon has 7 heads and 10 horns with a serpentine tail (12,3); he was thrown out of heaven and is now at war with the offspring of the woman (12,13- 17). He is also called ‘serpent’ and ‘the ancient serpent’ (12,9.14.15; 20,2). He is the most powerful figure but in the end he also shall taste defeat (25). The beast out of the sea has also 7 heads and 10 horns; it is also different because it has the body of a leopard, the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion (13,1-2); perhaps this is also the beast that kills the two witnesses (11,7) and on which the whore of Babylon sits (17,3). The fourth beast is the beast out of the earth; it has 2 horns and the voice of a dragon (13,11); because of its 2 horns it looks like a lamb (13,11). It is the most active beast: it performs signs; it makes the other beast speak; it gives people a mark on the forehead or on the right hand, a mark that has positive and negative effects. Because of these activities he is called ‘false prophet’ (16,13; 19,20; 20,10). (24) For a description of the fascination of the Romans for the monster, see the second part of C.A. Barton’s study, The Gladiator and the Monster, 85-189. (25) Interesting still is also the fact that Dravkwn is also a name of gladiators, see in Miletus (CIG 2898; ROBERT, 178) and in Ephesus, a relief with the depiction of two combatting gladiators among which the names ∆Asteropaivo" and Drakwn (ROBERT, 209). v