Gordian knot
Publié le 22/02/2012
Extrait du document
Greek A puzzling and intricate
knot tied by Gordius, king of Phrygia, in Asia
Minor, in a rope linking the yoke and the pole of the
ox-cart that had carried him to the temple of Zeus.
Zeus, obeying the words of an oracle, made the
peasant Gordius the new king of Phrygia. It is said
that the ox-cart remained for centuries at Gordium,
the capital city of Phrygia founded by Gordius.
60 GEnius
A superstition grew up around the knot: whoever
could untie the knot would become the ruler of Asia.
No one ever untied the knot, but in legend, Alexander
the Great slashed through the knot with his mighty
sword and did indeed become the ruler of Asia. The
legend of the Gordian knot seems to demonstrate
that, in some cases, the power of the sword is greater
than that of superstition. "To cut the Gordian knot"
has come to mean resolving a difficult problem with
one decisive, forceful step.