How to Solve Gordian's Knot
According to Greek legend Gordius was a poor peasant who used an intricate knot to secure his oxcart. Gordius and his wife were made king and queen when they entered the city of Phrygia, because a Phrygian oracle predicted the kingdom's future ruler would ride in on a wagon. After they placed him on the throne Gordius dedicated his oxcart to Zeus, and tied it up with the most complex knot a man ever tied. Another oracle predicted whoever untied the knot would rule all of Asia. Over 100 years later, a 23-year-old Alexander the Great, solved the Gordian knot.
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Instructions
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In 333 B.C. enter Gordium. Locate Gordius's oxcart near the temple of the Zeus Basilica. It still sits on top of the hill where the King of Phyrgia placed it.
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Examine the knot. Notice that the ends of the rope are hidden within the complexity of the knot, invisible from the outside.
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Struggle with the knot. Display frustration. Put on a show for the Phrygians and Macedonians who have followed you up the hill just to watch you fail.
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Pause, and then think laterally.
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Declare to the Phrygians and Macedonians, who by now have started shouting, "Maybe they should have called you the 'not-so-great'": "What does it matter how I loose it?"
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6
Step back, draw sword, and in one powerful downward stroke, slice through the knot.
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7
Laugh, and revel in a twisted joy that only creative thinking grants the violent.
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Make the joke, "I guess that was 'knot' very challenging for the smartest man on Earth," to the crowd who thought they were the only ones who knew clever word play and how to use a homophone.
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9
Conquer the Persian Empire.
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References
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