Gordian Knot And How Alexander The Great Managed To Outmaneuver The Problem

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - The Gordian Knot is a metaphorical expression that means a complicated problem or deadlock when we have an unsolvable problem, which is our "impossible knot."

It began long ago when the Phrygians had no ruler and plunged into a civil war. An oracle's ancient prophecy was announced at Telmissus (Telmessos), the ancient capital of Lycia.

It said that the new king would be the one who would enter the city in a simple ox-cart.

The first through the city's gates was Gordias, a poor peasant who came to the town with a cart drawn by an ox with his wife. He tied its yoke to a post with a highly sophisticated knot called the Gordian Knot. Gordias was declared king, and his grateful son, Midas, dedicated the ox-cart to the Phrygian god Sabazios (identified with Zeus).

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