64:
53:
38:
781:
769:
219:, Alexander pulled the linchpin from the pole to which the yoke was fastened, exposing the two ends of the cord and allowing him to untie the knot without having to cut through it. Some classical scholars regard this as more plausible than the popular account. Literary sources of the story include
105:
that tied an oxcart. Reputedly, whoever could untie it would be destined to rule all of Asia. In 333 BC Alexander was challenged to untie the knot. Instead of untangling it laboriously as expected, he dramatically cut through it with his sword, thus exercising another form of mental genius. It is
308:
peasant or the locally attested, authentically
Phrygian in his ox-cart. Roller (1984) separates out authentic Phrygian elements in the Greek reports and finds a folk-tale element and a religious one, linking the dynastic founder (with the cults of "Zeus" and
304:, of which Alexander is most likely to have been aware. Based on this origin myth, the new dynasty was not immemorially ancient, but had widely remembered origins in a local, but non-priestly "outsider" class, represented by Greek reports equally as an
203:. An oracle had declared that any man who could unravel its elaborate knots was destined to become ruler of all of Asia. Alexander the Great wanted to untie the knot but struggled to do so before reasoning that it would make no difference
164:) decreed that the next man to enter the city driving an ox-cart should become their king. A peasant farmer named Gordias drove into town on an ox-cart and was immediately declared king. Out of gratitude, his son
400:
686:"Surely Alexander believed that this god, who established for Midas the rule over Phrygia, now guaranteed to him the fulfillment of the promise of rule over Asia", (Fredricksmeyer, 1961, p 165).
433:, which made it a more readily legible emblem of power and military readiness. His position had also been predicted earlier by an eagle landing on his cart, a sign to him from the gods.
750:
Both Roller and
Fredricksmeyer (1961) offer persuasive arguments that the original name associated with the wagon is "Midas", "Gordias" being a Greek back-formation from the site name
670:
207:
the knot was loosed. Sources from antiquity disagree on his solution. In one version of the story, he drew his sword and sliced it in half with a single stroke. However,
661:
300:
The ox-cart suggests a longer voyage, rather than a local journey, perhaps linking
Alexander the Great with an attested origin-myth in
503:
276:
that, knotted like a cipher, would have been passed on through generations of priests and revealed only to the kings of
Phrygia.
803:
828:
575:
530:
63:
833:
773:
724:
593:
188:
as comprising "several knots all so tightly entangled that it was impossible to see how they were fastened".
31:
52:
477:" which means "and he offered his father's cart as a gift to king Zeus as gratitude for sending the eagle".
17:
823:
808:
328:
suggests that the previous dynasty was a race of priest-kings allied to the unidentified oracular deity.
301:
288:
has few completely arbitrary elements. This myth taken as a whole seems designed to confer legitimacy to
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in the fourth century BC when
Alexander the Great arrived, at which point Phrygia had been reduced to a
216:
498:
493:
474:καὶ τὴν ἅμαξαν τοῦ πατρὸς ἐν τῇ ἄκρᾳ ἀναθεῖναι χαριστήρια τῷ Διὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀετοῦ τῇ πομπῇ.
45:
535:
358:
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185:
813:
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kingdom: thus
Alexander's "brutal cutting of the knot ... ended an ancient dispensation."
125:
90:
818:
741:
618:
610:
553:
467:
234:
225:
591:
Fredricksmeyer, Ernest A. (July 1961). "Alexander, Midas, and the Oracle at
Gordium".
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622:
571:
558:
343:
242:
200:
838:
733:
602:
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The knot may have been a religious knot-cipher guarded by priests and priestesses.
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644:(1973) 1986: Notes to Chapter 10, p. 518; Fox recounts the anecdote, pp. 149–151.
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for a seemingly intractable problem which is solved by exercising brute force.
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The ox-cart still stood in the palace of the former kings of
Phrygia at
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442:
Arrian and
Plutarch are secondary sources; Aristobolus' text is lost.
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Alexander the Great later went on to conquer Asia as far as the
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Roller, Lynn E. (October 1984). "Midas and the
Gordian knot".
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suggested that it may have symbolised the ineffable name of
257:
149:
102:
538:(Revised, Enlarged ed.). Penguin Group. p. 105.
669:(Revised ed.). Penguin Books. pp. 168–169.
429:The ox-cart is often depicted in works of art as a
320:legitimize dynasties by right of conquest (compare
184:). The knot was later described by Roman historian
176:) and tied it to a post with an intricate knot of
795:
590:
324:), but in this myth the stressed legitimising
68:Alexander the Great Cutting the Gordian Knot
57:Alexander the Great Cutting the Gordian Knot
168:dedicated the ox-cart to the Phrygian god
487:
485:
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42:Alexander the Great cuts the Gordian Knot
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27:Greek myth; metaphor for tangled problem
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117:The Gordian Knot of it he will unloose,
14:
796:
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676:from the original on 27 January 2018.
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506:from the original on 21 January 2019
471:(Αλεξάνδρου Ανάβασις), Book ii.3): "
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24:
263:
25:
850:
761:
492:Andrews, Evan (3 February 2016).
779:
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260:, thus fulfilling the prophecy.
115:Turn him to any cause of policy,
59:(1767) by Jean-François Godefroy
715:
706:
689:
680:
559:The Life of Alexander the Great
636:The four sources are given in
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542:
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436:
423:
13:
1:
804:Alexander the Great in legend
784:The dictionary definition of
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32:Gordian Knot (disambiguation)
703:18.1; Curtius 3.1.11 and 14.
494:"What was the Gordian Knot?"
7:
566:. Modern Library. pp.
331:
10:
855:
829:Objects in Greek mythology
531:The Campaigns of Alexander
473:
215:relate that, according to
29:
139:
160:(the ancient capital of
834:Philosophical analogies
754:, according to Roller.
292:change in this central
119:Familiar as his garter
627:citing Tarn, W.W. 1948
408:
298:
199:, or province, of the
137:
134:, Act 1 Scene 1. 45–47
101:, regarding a complex
75:
60:
49:
536:de Sélincourt, Aubrey
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186:Quintus Curtius Rufus
112:
66:
55:
46:Jean-Simon Berthélemy
40:
776:at Wikimedia Commons
174:identified with Zeus
30:For other uses, see
725:Classical Antiquity
642:Alexander the Great
594:Classical Philology
554:Clough, Arthur Hugh
247:De Natura Animalium
91:Alexander the Great
78:The cutting of the
824:Mythological knots
809:Culture of Phrygia
699:Justin, Plutarch,
660:(1960) . "Midas".
468:Anabasis Alexandri
226:Anabasis Alexandri
76:
61:
50:
772:Media related to
417:Explanatory notes
344:Archimedean point
172:(whom the Greeks
16:(Redirected from
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738:10.2307/25010818
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349:Egg of Columbus
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280:Unlike popular
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264:Interpretations
239:Pompeius Trogus
231:Quintus Curtius
148:were without a
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106:thus used as a
72:André Castaigne
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28:
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732:(2): 256–271.
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658:Graves, Robert
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638:Robin Lane Fox
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601:(3): 160–168.
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365:Kobayashi Maru
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241:(11.7.3), and
237:'s epitome of
201:Persian Empire
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508:. Retrieved
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396:World riddle
381:Trefoil knot
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354:Endless knot
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18:Gordian knot
814:Greek myths
376:Sovereignty
318:Greek myths
217:Aristobulus
126:Shakespeare
74:(1898–1899)
48:(1743–1811)
798:Categories
450:References
284:, genuine
233:(3.1.14),
182:Cornus mas
819:Metaphors
701:Alexander
623:162250370
528:(1971) .
409:Welträsel
401:‹See Tfd›
371:Ouroboros
306:eponymous
294:Anatolian
286:mythology
158:Telmissus
152:, but an
146:Phrygians
746:25010818
671:Archived
552:(2004).
550:Plutarch
504:Archived
332:See also
290:dynastic
274:Dionysus
256:and the
209:Plutarch
170:Sabazios
123:—
108:metaphor
839:Puzzles
752:Gordion
695:Trogus
556:(ed.).
499:History
431:chariot
302:Macedon
197:satrapy
193:Gordium
131:Henry V
99:Phrygia
95:Gordium
744:
712:Arrian
621:
615:265752
613:
574:
526:Arrian
510:30 May
463:Arrian
405:German
339:Aporia
326:oracle
322:Cadmus
316:Other
311:Cybele
249:13.1.
243:Aelian
235:Justin
229:2.3),
221:Arrian
213:Arrian
180:bark (
178:cornel
154:oracle
140:Legend
87:legend
82:is an
742:JSTOR
674:(PDF)
667:(PDF)
619:S2CID
611:JSTOR
282:fable
254:Indus
166:Midas
162:Lycia
697:apud
572:ISBN
512:2017
258:Oxus
211:and
150:king
144:The
103:knot
734:doi
603:doi
313:).
245:'s
205:how
156:at
97:in
93:in
70:by
44:by
800::
740:.
728:.
649:^
640:,
617:.
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570:.
568:18
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496:.
482:^
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
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