Legion (demon)
Legion , also the demon of Gadara , or (translated) many , refers to a demonic appearance mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible , which is also referred to as the "pig episode". In the Gospels of Mark and Luke , a man is described as possessed by many demons. In contrast, the Gospel according to Matthew tells of two possessed, and the name "Legion" is not used.
The history
According to the biblical story , Jesus traveled "the area of Gadara " (according to Matthew, in Mark and Luke "the area of Gerasa ", but only Gadara is near the Sea of Galilee ), met the possessed there and talked to the demons.
In the Gospel according to Mark we can read:
- And he asked him: what is your name? And he said to him: My name is Legion, for we are many. ( Mk 5.9 ELB )
Similar in the Gospel according to Luke:
- Jesus asked him: What's your name? He replied: Legion. Because he was possessed by many demons. ( Lk 8.30 ELB )
The demons identify Jesus as the “Son of God” and ask him not to send them to hell ( Lk 8.31 EU ). In fact, however, there is no word in the original Greek texts for the hereafter, such as sheol , Gehenna , Hades or Tartaros . In Mark 5:10 the Greek word chora is used, which is translated as 'area', but could also describe an empty space. In Luke 8:31, on the other hand , there is abyssus , a bottomless depth.
Jesus drove out the demons ( apopompe ) and at the same time complied with their request: He allowed them to enter a herd of pigs. The 2000 pigs then stormed into the Sea of Galilee , where they drowned. The swineherd fled and related the incident in the city, whereupon the citizens sought out the healed man and Jesus, "were afraid" and asked Jesus to leave their area of the Decapolis . The healed man wanted to join Jesus, but Jesus sent him to make this story known.
Parallels to the Odyssey
The theologian Dennis MacDonald explains some narrative elements of the Gospel of Mark by saying that Homer's Odyssey and Iliad are the basis. For the story with Jesus and the possessed, parallels can be drawn with Odysseus and the Cyclops Polyphemus :
| Homer's Odyssey | Gospel of Mark |
|---|---|
| Odysseus reaches the land of the Cyclops with several ships and his 12 followers | Jesus reaches the area of the Gerasenes with several ships and the 12 disciples |
| Odysseus goes ashore with 12 companions. His other men are supposed to wait in the ship for his return | Jesus goes ashore, his companions are to wait in the ship for his return |
| He meets a supernatural opponent, the Cyclops Polyphemus | he meets a supernatural opponent, the demons who have occupied a man |
| who lives in a cave | who lives in "graves" |
| The Cyclops asks Odysseus his name. | Jesus asks the man his name |
| Odysseus answers with a play on words, a quantity: "Nobody" | The man answers with a play on words, a quantity: “My name is Legion; because we are our many. " |
| Odysseus defeats the Cyclops | Jesus defeats the demons |
| Odysseus' men escape over a herd of cattle (cling to the bellies of sheep) | The demons escape over a herd of cattle. "And the devils all asked him and said: Let's go to the swine!" |
| Odysseus returns to his ship and calls out to the Cyclops who he really is, Odysseus, King of Ithaca | Jesus returns to his ship and calls to the man to praise this benefit of God. |
Interpretations
John Dominic Crossan believes the story can be a parable for resistance to Roman rule. That would explain why in the Gospels Gadara , Gerasa and Gergesa are given as the place of the action: All three would be synonymous with Caesarea , the seat of the Roman procurator and place of the actual happenings. This interpretation is not without a certain originality, but it is anything but plausible: All three synoptics localize the event at the Sea of Galilee, the "Sea of Galilee" - but Caesarea Maritima is on the coast of the Mediterranean, in Samaria. Nor should anyone who speaks Greek make the mistake of referring to Caesarea and writing Gerasa (as in Mk and Lk) or Gadara (as in Mt).
In his book The Messiah Riddle , Joseph Atwill develops a different interpretation. The story could therefore be a representation of Titus Flavius Vespasianus (as the Messiah ), his Roman legions in the fight against the Zealots and their revolt in Caesarea Maritima (see also Jewish War ). The pigs could also be an allusion to the Legio X Fretensis , which occupied Jerusalem from the year 70 and, among other things, carried a boar as a symbol. However, this interpretation is also highly speculative and is based on a selective reading of the Gospels.
Mentions in pop culture (selection)
- William Peter Blatty's novel for The Exorcist III is called Legion.
- Since 1997 Legion has appeared frequently as an antagonist in the Castlevania video game series , mostly as a strong / late / high-ranking boss opponent. Legion usually has the shape of a floating mass of hardly distinguishable humanoid bodies that are reminiscent of the undead.
- In the comic book version Ghost Rider , the character Blackheart calls himself Legion after absorbing 1000 souls at the end of the film. He also uses the words "... because we are many."
- The final boss of the 1999 video game Shadow Man is Legion. He often uses the phrase "For ours are many"; Reference is also made to the Bible passage Mk 5.9 within the game.
- A line of text from song I from the Black Sabbath album Dehumanizer reads "I am wicked / I am Legion".
- In 2007 the German band Tocotronic released the song We are many on their album Kapitulation with the text line “We are many / Our name is Legion”.
- The song I am many by the German metal band Eisregen contains the line “Because I am many, my name is Legion”.
- The second studio album by the anti-Christian death metal band Deicide is titled Legion .
- The chorus of the song “United in Hate” from the album Phantom Antichrist by the German thrash metal band Kreator reads “We are legion / We are legion united in Hate”.
- The song Fürst der Finsternis from the German music project E Nomine contains the text line “My name is Legion, because we are many”.
- A character in the Mass Effect video game series calls himself Legion. He quotes from the Bible: "I am Legion, for we are many" and finds the name appropriate because it is the representative figure of a collective of thousands of AIs .
- The motto of the Internet phenomenon Anonymous begins with: “We are Anonymous. We are legion / many. "
literature
- Joseph Atwill: Caesar's Messiah: The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus . Ulysses Press, 2005, ISBN 1-56975-457-8 .
- Joseph Atwill: The Messiah Riddle . Allegria, Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH, 2008, ISBN 978-3-7934-2091-0 .
See also
- List of Greek phrases: Λεγεὼν ὄνομά μοι. - "My name is Legion ."
Individual evidence
- ^ Macdonald, Dennis R .: Homeric epics and the gospel of mark. Yale University Press, 2010, ISBN 0-300-17261-3 .
- ^ Gospel of Mark. November 14, 2016, accessed March 31, 2019 .
- ↑ https://castlevania.fandom.com/wiki/Legion
- ↑ https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Legion_%28Castlevania%29