The Gordian Knot
"What cannot be resolved, it is cut"
("O,τι δεν λύεται κόπτεται")
Alexander the Great, 356-323 BC - King of Macedon
In 333 BC, Alexander the Great, while marching through Anatolia, modern-day Turkey, arrived in the city of Gordium, where the founder, Gordius, a peasant farmer, who, years ago, had been declared king, when the oracle at Telmissus (the ancient capital of Lycia-Anatolia), had declared that the next man to enter the city on an ox cart, would be king.
In appreciation for this honour bequeathed to Gordius, his son, Midas, tied the cart to a pole, using an intricate knot, whoever, announced a local oracle, could unravel this complicated knot, would become ruler of all Asia.
Many were the men who battled with this elaborate knot but to no avail, until that is, Alexander the Great, after struggling with the dratted knot, lost patience, thought outside the box, decided it did not matter how the knot was untied and with one stroke of his sword sliced through the knot and after conquering Asia, became ruler, fulfilling the prophecy.
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