by Tracy Groot
Permit me to say too that I ache for your loss, as much as for my own.
How came I to his steps, so many years ago? Blind and broken, I came. He took me in, and I noticed the smell of jasmine, and I tasted food again. I believe in Great Good, Aristarchus; I met it first in Callimachus. I met it next in you. I met it here, on that which they have the temerity to call a sea. I watched Hell go forth, and watched as it prevailed not.
Kardus did not come broken to the steps of the one he calls Across the Sea; Across the Sea came to him. And this, dear Aristarchus, is Great Good.
Do a favor for me, since I will not return to Athens. Gather all my scrolls, all my work on the cultus of Dionysus, and go to the sea. Cast them on the waters for me. Like Lycurgus, Across the Sea drove Dionysus into the depths. When the pigs thundered down the slope, and when they drowned in the sea, I remember thinking Antiochus Epiphanes made the Jews sacrifice pigs to Dionysus. What an elegant sense of justice he has, this Jew, this Jesus of Nazareth. Maybe he did it on sudden fierce inspiration, in memory of the Maccabbean who rose in revolt against Antiochus. Maybe, when the demons asked permission, he thought it an impeccable suggestion.
So, dear Aristarchus, cast the scrolls there for me, and this will be my tribute to Callimachus. He said I should not challenge the Maenads, but what moved them. Only then would real change occur. I have found it is so. I was not strong enough to challenge him on my own. It took you and Callimachus, a Parthian slave and his Two Truths, and the one Kardus calls Across the Sea.
I wish Cal could have met him. I saw him the other day, when he came to give a talk. It was the first time he’d been in this region since the day he came for Kardus a year ago. He had quite a welcome this time. Thousands gathered to hear him speak.
Thousands? Yes, because Kardus had done what he told him to do—he went home.
I won’t tell you what happened when he came, because you wouldn’t believe it. I’ll simply say this: a few loaves, a few fish, and with this man, it’s quite a feast.
I’ll visit you someday, and I’ll bring my wife. Yes, wife. You’ll be pleased to know I have stayed my station—I’ve married a fellow servant. She is an innkeeper, and my, they are a tough lot. She scares me sometimes, as does Kardus’s wife. They both remind me of you.
Aristarchus . . .
Kiss Cal’s grave for me.
Your servant,
Tallis
Historical Notes
THE MATERIAL ON ALEXANDER THE GREAT; his Maenad mother, Olympias; the notorious Antiochus IV, Epiphanes/Epimanes; and Dionysus was drawn from many history books such as Alexander the Great and His Time by Agnes Savill; Alexander the Great: Son of the Gods by Alan Fildes and Joann Fletcher; Women and Monarchy in Macedonia by Elizabeth Donnelly Carney; Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age by Peter Green; The Jewish People in the First Century, volume II, edited by S. Safrai and M. Stern; Greek Legends and Stories by M. V. Seton-Williams; and Dionysus: Myth and Cult by Walter Otto.
The law Tallis tried to revive, limiting the activities of the Bacchanalia, was passed in the Roman senate in 186 BC.
Antiochus introduced the worship of Dionysus into the desecrated temple of Jerusalem in 167 BC. “The altar was covered with abominable offerings, which the laws forbade. . . . On the monthly celebration of the king’s birthday, they [the Jews] were taken by bitter necessity to taste the sacrifices, and when the Festival of Dionysus came, they were compelled to wear wreaths of ivy and march in the procession in his honor. At Ptolemy’s suggestion a decree was issued to neighboring Greek towns, that they should adopt the same policy toward the Jews and make them taste the sacrifices, and that they should slay any who would not agree to adopt Greek customs” (2 Maccabees 6:5–9).
The miracle of the Gerasene demoniac is reported in the New Testament gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. I drew heavily upon Mark’s account and upon scholar Bargil Pixner’s commentary on it.
I came across the name of Kardus in an excavation report of Kursi, published by the Department of Antiquities and Museums, Ministry of Education and Culture, Israel, 1983. I did not have access to this report when I wrote about Kardus in my first historical novel, The Brother’s Keeper. I named him Jaren then, never dreaming of the possibility of an actual name. It was recorded in a tenth-century document by a fellow named Pseudo-Peter of Sebaste, as indicated in the Kursi report. (My three Moody Publishers books are being newly reissued by Tyndale House, and I will have the opportunity to change his name to Kardus when The Brother’s Keeper is released again in spring 2018. I hope that won’t be too confusing for anyone who might have the original edition of the book.)
Many scholars believe Kardus was the first missionary, as the result of Jesus’ injunction to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you” (Mark 5:19). As Bargil Pixner notes in his work, With Jesus through Galilee, According to the Fifth Gospel, pages 45–46, “Did the Christians of Hippos remember their first missionary by building the chapel which can still be seen at the site of his tomb-cave on the slope above Kursi?”
“Jesus himself was barred from coming into this region,” Pixner observes, “and so he commissioned this grateful and devoted man to spread the Good News. A splendid sentence concludes this episode of violent conflict between the kingdom of God and that of Satan: ‘So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed’ (Mark 5:20, NIV).”
—T.G.
Discussion Questions
Why do you think the author chose to tell most of the story from Tallis’s point of view? In what ways does Tallis, as an outsider to the region, have a unique perspective on the events that unfold there?
Describe the series of events that led to Kardus’s demonic possession. In what ways did he intentionally open himself up to evil, and in what ways was he deceived? We may not face the same types of temptations as Kardus, but what are some examples of the evil that tempts us in daily life? What are some ways we can “push back” against various forces that could harm us, our families, or our relationships?
Polonus blames himself for setting Kardus on the path that led to his demonic possession. How much can we be held responsible for our influence on others, and how much do others bear responsibility for their own choices? Have you ever influenced someone in a way you later came to regret?
Did you like the scenes told from Kardus’s viewpoint? In what way did they add to—or detract from—the story?
Why does Zagreus dread the visits of “Aunt Ariadne”? Is this sensitivity simply a part of the story, or do you think young children really can be more sensitive than adults? Have you ever observed this in children you know?
Why do you think Samir was immune to the influence of evil spirits, while Tallis was particularly affected by them?
The ultimate resolution in the story comes through Christ’s direct intervention. But there is an important rescue before Jesus comes on the scene. What indications are there that the One True God is also involved in that rescue?
Polonus seeks far and wide for a cure for Kardus’s madness, spending a lot of money and receiving a lot of useless advice in return. But Jesus frees Kardus from the demons with only a few words. What does this tell us about Jesus’ authority? In what way is the story of Jesus and the Gerasene demoniac an encouragement to Christians today who are praying for loved ones who are far from God?
One of the first things Kardus notices after Jesus frees him is the peace and quiet: “But of all the sensations assailing his senses, one was most pervasive—the voices were gone. All gone. He’d stepped out of pandemonium into a great relief of dewy silence.” Why does this story associate evil with loud confusion and good with calm tranquility?
Madman is a work of biblical fiction—a speculative expansion of a story from the Bible. What are some ways that biblical fiction can complement the reading of Scripture? Are there
any potential dangers in reading biblical fiction? Why is it important to remember that the characters we read about in the Bible were real people?
Acknowledgments
TO EACH OF THE FOLLOWING I owe one of my children, or at least a venti mocha:
Vicki Anderson, Albert Bell, Robin Day, Bart DenBoer, the indomitable Melissa Huisman from the Gary Byker Memorial Library, Todd Krygsheld, Candy Molette, and Paul Wright for various research matters; Anne-Marie Jacobson, Bob Jacobson, Chad Pierce, and Beth Steenwyk for reading the manuscript; my agent Kathy Helmers for believing in this project, and long ago, in me; my editor Andy McGuire for being the best kind of mean; my own personal copyeditor, on retainer, LB Norton, who exists to make me look good; Jen Abbas, Shelly Beach, Angela Blycker, Ann Byle, Lorilee Craker, and Julie Johnson, for watching my back; Evan, Grayson, and Riley (wait—you are my children) for your pure-hearted enthusiasm; and Jack, for your manic encouragement, your relentless belief in my capability, and for cheerfully pitching in whenever needed so I could write. Many husbands have done nobly, but you knock it out of the park.
About the Author
TRACY GROOT is the author of three Christy Award–winning novels—Madman, Flame of Resistance, and The Sentinels of Andersonville—along with The Brother’s Keeper, Stones of My Accusers, and most recently The Maggie Bright.
She loves books, movies, knitting, travel, exceptional coffee, dark-chocolate sea foam, and licorice allsorts. She lives with her husband, Jack, in a Michigan home where stacks of books must be navigated to get anywhere, and if she yet lives at the reading of these words, she is likely at work on her next historical novel.
For more information about Tracy and her books, visit www.tracygroot.com.
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