Hearing at the Boundaries of Vision Education Informing Cosmology in Revelation 9

This study considers how a significant variable, namely level of literaryeducation (enkuklios paideia), mightaffect an ancient hearer's interpretation of Revelation 9. This volume focuseson how two hypothetical ancient hearer-constructs, with very different"mental libraries", may interpret the rich cosmological imagery ofRevelation 9.The first, ancient hearer-construct (HC1), the recipient of a minimal literaryeducation, retains a Homeric cosmological model. The second ancient hearer-construct(HC2), by contrast, utilises a tertiary-level knowledge of Aratus and Plato toallegorically reinterpret the cosmological imagery of Rev 9 (cf. 'Hippolytus', Refutatio IV.46-50).The volume concludes by critically comparing the hypothetical responses of HC1and HC2 with the early reception of Revelation 9 by Victorinus, Tyconius andOecumenius (3rd-6th century CE), attentive to theeducational attainment of each commentator.