Legion (Dämon)
Legion, also known as the Gadarene demon, or is translated as Lots, is a demon found in the Christian Bible in Mark 5:9 and Luke 8:30. A parallel version of the story can be found in Matthew 8:28-34, but this version does not contain the name "Legion" and tells of two men, not just one, possessed by a multitude of demons. In the story, Jesus travelled to "the country of the Gadarenes" (Gergesenes in Matthew) and met a man possessed by an evil spirit, which spoke to Jesus in a conversation. The most commonly quoted version is found in Mark 5:9:
- And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. (KJV)
Another version of the quote is in Luke 8:30:
- And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. (KJV)
The demons that composed Legion were aware of the tremendous power of Jesus, and begged to be spared from being tossed back into the bottomless pit of hell (none of the words translated hell in the Bible are used, those being sheol, Gehenna, Haides, tartaros; rather, in Mark 5:10, the Greek word choras is used, translated "country" but more accurately meaning an empty expanse, and in Luke 8:31, the word abyssos is used, meaning a bottomless depth). Jesus instead cast the demons out of the man and, granting their request, allowed them to dwell in a herd of pigs. The pigs then drowned themselves in the Sea of Galilee.
John Dominic Crossan believes the story may be considered a parable of anti-Roman resistance. This would explain why the Gospels variously situate the story in Gadara, Gerasa and Gergesa: All three are disguises for Caesarea, the location of the actual events behind the story. Even if the story is taken to be historically factual, some of the details may be exaggerated. For example, pigs are excellent swimmers, and the ones who jumped into the lake may well have survived. (See Umm Qais).
Joseph Atwill in his book Caesar's Messiah, believes that the story is a representation of Titus Vespasianus, as the messiah (see also Josephus' Jewish Wars 6.5.4), and the invading Roman Legions in dealing with the Zealots and their insurrection in Caesarea. The pigs may also be an allusion to Legio X Fretensis, which occupied Jerusalem after AD 70, and had the boar as one of its symbols.
The Bartimaeus connection
As noted above, Matthew has two demon-possessed men instead of one, and does not mention the name "Legion." Similarly, in his version of the Blind Man of Jericho, Matthew has two blind men instead of one and omits the name Bartimaeus, both men remaining anonymous. Duplication and anonymity are characteristics of the Matthean versions of both stories.
In Popular Culture
- In the Stephen King mini-series, it is suggested that the omnipotent demonic figure of Andre Linoge is the demon Legion in disguise, as the name Linoge is an anagram of Legion.
- Gamera 2: Attack of Legion, the second film in the heisei Gamera series uses the first biblical quote to introduce the space insect Legion when its hives first crash into the Earth and begin colonizing.
- Legion is a reoccuring boss in the Castlevania games. It is typically a large demonic core surrounded by a circular body composed entirely of corpses, which drop off periodically as the demon takes damage.
- Spawn is known to carry an entity known as the Legion but this isnt a demon but rather the souls of different people.
- In the film The Exorcism of Emily Rose, one of the demons possesing the title character is called Legion.
- In the Black Sabbath song "I" from the 1992 album Dehumanizer there is a line that goes "I am wicked/I am Legion"
See also
External links
- EarlyChristianWritings.com Gospel of Mark, see discussion at bottom of page