Alexander The Great and The Gordian Knot
7 Essential Knots For Better Living
The ancient Phrygians were without a king. A prophet of the kingdom told the people that the next man to enter the city driving an ox-cart would become their king. Soon after the prophet’s declaration, an ox-cart driven by the peasant farmer, Gorditas, entered the city. Gorditas the farmer became king of Phrygia. To show respect to the Phrygian god Sabazios, Gorditas’ son, the legendary, future King Midas tied the yoke of the ox-cart to a palace post with a knot so complex that no one could figure out how to untie it. The prophet declared that any man who could unravel the elaborate knot was destined to become ruler of all the lands of Asia. Many came from near and far to try and unravel the entanglement and all failed to untie the knot that was later described by Roman historian, Quintus Curtius Rufusas, as comprising "several knots all so tightly entangled that it was impossible to see how they were fastened". For many years the ox-cart remained tied to the palace post, even long after the fall of Phrygia to the Persian Empire.
When the Macedonian ruler and general, Alexander the Great arrived in the city of Gordium (in present-day Turkey) in 344 BC., he became immediately fascinated by the challenge of untangling The Gordian Knot. His attempts to untie it were just as futile as those who came before. The warrior become frustrated before deciding to resign his efforts to logic and reason. He eventually reasoned that the manner in which the knot was loosed was not important, drew his sword and sliced it in half with a single blow. Alexander went on to conquer Asian kingdoms as far east as Afghanistan.
The legend of untying “The Gordian Knot” has since become a widely used metaphor for the resolution of an intractable problem by rendering the constraints of the problem moot by novel, creative thinking.
Understanding knots and knowing how to tie more than the proverbial “granny knot” can be a beneficial skill for most everyone. Learning how to tie a few good knots is not only good for camping and recreational activities, the skill can also be indispensable in emergencies, first aid and for getting things done around the home. Get yourself a length of rope and start practicing today!