What was the meaning of the gospel story that Jesus put the demons into the pigs?

Answer 1

AnswerIn this story, a wild, naked man lived by himself in a cave, possessed by demons. Jesus drove the demons out into the 2000 pigs, who then ran down the steep hill into the Sea of Galilee, where they drowned.

The original version of the story is in Mark chapter 5. Dennis R MacDonald (The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark) has identified numerous parallels between the Homeric epics and Mark's Gospel. He believes that the preceding voyage and this demoniac sequence is principally based on the story of the Cyclops and Polyphemus, with further parallels to the story of Circe. A brief summary of some of the parallels:

• 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, he usually asked that his identity not be revealed.