In
Greek legend, the Gordian knot was the name given to an
intricate knot used by Gordius to lash his oxcart to a pole.
Gordius, a poor peasant, arrived by oxcart with his wife
in a public square of Phrygia, which is now part of Turkey.
An oracle had decreed that the future king would come riding
in a wagon. Seeing Gordius, the people made him their king.
In gratitude, Gordius dedicated his oxcart to Zeus, the
righteous governor of the ancient world, tying it up with
a particularly complex knot. An oracle foretold that he
who untied the knot would rule all of Asia. According to
a later legend, in 333 B.C., Alexander the Great severed
the knot with his sword. From that day to this, "cutting
the Gordian knot" has meant solving a difficult problem.