Legion (demon)

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Legion, also known as the Gadarene demon, or 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" ("Gerasenes" in Mark and Luke) 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. In general, however, 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] In Popular Culture

• In the Dean Koontz novel Phantoms (novel), (also a film) the 'ancient enemy' refers to itself as Legion among many other names while conversing with Bryce Hammond through a terminal in the mobile lab.
• In the 2007 movie Ghost Rider, the character "Blackheart", played by Wes Bentley, refers to himself as Legion at the end of the movie, after having 1,000 souls enter him.
• In the cartoon series "justice league", in episode "legion", the league fights a robot that can assume any of their characteristics. the robot is called Legion.
• In the Stephen King Storm of the Century 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.
• In Stephen King's novel The Stand, one of the characters claims that the main villain, Randall Flagg, is Legion.
• J. G. Ballard's short story "The Reptile Enclosure" parallels the fate of the Gadarene Swine and that of a crowd on a summer beach.
• 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 recurring 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 isn't a demon but rather the souls of different people.
• In the film The Exorcism of Emily Rose, one of the demons possessing 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"
• In the videogame Shadowman, the main villain calls himself Legion and often says, "For we are many."
• In the videogame Timesplitters: Future Perfect, in certain level, robot enemies will say "We are Legion".
• In the online videogame Dark Age of Camelot, Legion is the final boss that players can face in the zone called Darkness Falls, which is stylized as some sort of underworld.
• The short independent film called "HeadCheese", is about a man named Legion who is being possesed by demons into madness and murder.
• In the BBC TV series Red Dwarf the Episode "Legion" contains a character who introduces himself as "Legion, for we are many"
• American death metal band Deicide released an album in 1992 called Legion.
• The Movie 5ive Girls involved Legion
• Canadian Death Metal Band "Legion" named themselves after the demon
• Australian alternative band Severed Heads included a song call Legion on its 1986 album, Come Visit the Big Bigot.
• In the various Warhammer 40,000 online RTS (Real Time Strategy) games, the army known as the Chaos Space Marines can sometimes be heard shouting "We are Legion!"

[edit] External links

• EarlyChristianWritings.com Gospel of Mark, see discussion at bottom of page

Richard Wilbur´s poem "Matthew VIII, 28 FF" (from his 1969 collection Walking to Sleep) uses the vehicle of the insanity of the Gadarnes in an extended metaphor or conceit whose tenor suggests that modern life is too sensually replete to require a god.