The Gordian Knot

Of course at this late day it would be impossible to correct the great injustice done to poor Gordius. Nevertheless, as true blue puzzlists we can condemn the high-handed manner in which Alexander the Great, competing in a puzzle contest, proceeded to make himself the umpire and awarded himself the prize for his absurd solution. He established a dangerous precedent and encouraged a kind of puzzle brigandage which is not extinct to this day. We often find young Alexanders who would like to solve puzzles according to their own notions and capture prizes after the manner of pirates.

http://www.cut-the-knot.org/Gordian.shtml

http://www.gordiansolutions.com/TheKnot.htm

The Gordian Knot

http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/prm/blissusb.htm

Upset at Issus
http://luna.cas.usf.edu/~murray/classes/aa/source13.htm

http://www.lricks.com/gordian.htm

ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A KNOT NO ONE COULD UNTIE . . .

In Greek legend, the Gordian knot was the name given to an intricate knot used by Gordius to secure his oxcart. Gordius, who was a poor peasant, arrived with his wife in a public square of Phrygia in an oxcart. An oracle had informed the populace that their future king would come riding in a wagon. Seeing Gordius, the people made him king. In gratitude, Gordius dedicated his oxcart to Zeus, tying it up with a peculiar knot. An oracle foretold that he who untied the knot would rule all of Asia. According to a later legend, Alexander the Great cut the knot with his sword. From that time, "cutting the Gordian knot" came to mean solving a difficult problem.

 

http://www.gordian.com/about/knotlegend.htm