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The name given to the demons present in the man whom Jesus delivered is not a symbol of anything. It is a description of the fact that there were 'many' demons inhabiting the man.

Legion is also a name given by the Romans to a fixed number of soldiers which at different times in Roman history was between 4,000 to 6,000 soldiers. This again is not a symbol for anything but a name given to a specific number of soldiers in the Roman military.

AnswerDennis R MacDonald (The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark) believes that the strange passage, in which the demons tell Jesus that their name is Legion, is principally based on the story in Homer's epics of the Cyclops and Polyphemus, with further parallels to the story of Circe:
  • Polyphemus was a savage, lawless, cave-dwelling giant of incredible strength and violent, terrifying habits - just like the demoniac in the gospels
  • When Polyphemus asked Odysseus for his name, he replied, 'Nobody'.

    When Jesus (in the role of Odysseus) asked the demon his name, the demon replied, 'Legion'. The request was reversed and the answer was a reversal.

  • Circe had turned a large number of Odysseus' men into swine.

    Jesus cast the many demons into swine - a totally superfluous step in destroying them.

  • When Odysseus was on his boat and leaving, he told Polyphemus to tell everyone what the great Odysseus had done to him. When Jesus was on his boat and leaving, he told the demoniac to tell everyone what 'the Lord' had done to him. In Mark's Gospel, Jesus usually asked that his identity not be revealed.

According to MacDonald, Mark's use of the name 'Legion' symbolises a reversal of Homer's 'Nobody'.

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Q: What is the name Legion a symbol of?
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