Friday, February 25, 2011

Creature Feature: The Horsemen of the Apocalypse




With all the attention from the horseman video this week, I thought I’d take the to chance to feature the four horsemen as this week’s creature(s.) If you aren’t familiar with the four horsemen of the apocalypse, they are basically four beings described in the Bible in the book of Revelation and bring all kinds of problems to the world. They appear following the opening of some of the seven seals. The Bible doesn’t actually refer to them as men, but creatures. One of the horsemen is described talking, which gives the impression that they are human-like. Each one of their horses is given a unique physical appearance and they are each thought to represent something different.

The first horseman is usually referred to as Conquest, though some people refer to him as Pestilence.  The rider is described as having a bow and a crown and is often depicted as riding a white horse. It isn’t clear whether the first horseman is good or evil, unlike the others who clearly bring suffering with them.

The second horseman is described as riding a fiery red horse and is believed to represent war. He carries a sword and has the power to take peace from the earth. His red horse may represent spilled blood.

The third horseman, sometimes referred to as famine, rides a black horse and carried a set of scales used for weighing food. He is the only horsemen who talks in the biblical description. His phrase, “A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!” has several possible interpretations but clearly represents a limit of food.

The fourth horseman, Death, rides a pale horse that is thought by some to be green or spotted. He isn’t described as carrying a weapon but is followed by hell.

The four horsemen are thought to bring a large amount of suffering to the world though scholars don’t agree if they appear during an earlier historical period or during the end times of the world. Either way, you probably don’t want to run into one of these guys. So if you see one coming, you might want to get out of the way.

4 comments:

  1. I'm going to plug the show "Supernatural" here just because I love that show so much. If you haven't watched season five and season six...you should totally do so. War drives around in a red mustang, famine is this old guy in a wheelchair sucking air through a breathing tube, and pestilence makes his home in a retirement center for aged and disabled people. Those interpretations were really interesting. But Death was immensely powerful...leagues above the other three. He made a statement in one scene to Dean that he and God often disputed with each other who was older. Then Death said simply, "Someday, I will reap God. Then I will be the only one left."

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  2. I"m a big fan of the show Supernatural as well and I loved the way they did the horsemen thing. It was totally different from any version I had seen. I kind of hope they find a way to bring the horsemen back because they were just so interesting.

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  3. Well three of the four are dead so I don't see them coming back, right? And Death...well he's kinda cool so you know he'll be kicking around. I just hope that they free Adam. I think the actor that plays him is really cute and I don't want him stuck in the cage with Lucifier. He needs to be out doing paranormal investigation with his brothers and being loved.

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  4. Being dead doesn't mean a whole lot on that show. I think just about every main character on there has been killed off and brought back to life at least once. I'd like to see more of Adam as well, I don't think we got quite enough time with his character.

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