What does the popular expression mean to cut the Gordian knot. That tied the Gordian knot. And the legend goes like this

What does the "Gordian knot" mean - this saying is known to many since school curriculum when in the classroom they studied phraseological units and myths Ancient Greece, but few people remember why the knot was called "Gordian", and why no one could untie it? The determination of the great commander Alexander the Great created not only a legend, but also an expression applicable in the 21st century.

What is the Gordian knot in Ancient Greece?

"Gordian knot" - the meaning of this phrase stands for the knot that King Gordian created. According to the legends of ancient Greece, the area where this happened was called Phrygia, the current part of Turkey. In the 4th century BC e. the kingdom lost its king, and people went to the oracle. He predicted that the charioteer, whom the inhabitants would see, going to the temple of Zeus, would become king. This counter was the farmer Gordius, who later became a wise ruler. In memory of this event, the king placed the wagon in the center of the temple, securing the yoke with the most complicated knot.

What tied the "Gordian knot"?

The ruler Gordius was sure that the cart, on which he traveled to Phrygia, gave him the kingdom. In memory of this significant event, he decided to install it in the center of the capital, which he called Gordeon. And so that future rulers would not be tempted to untie the wagon, he secured the yoke with a very tricky knot, which created the concept of the “Gordian knot”. For weaving, the king used a cornelian bast rope, which could not be broken. There are 2 versions that she linked:

The wagon and the central pillars of the temple of Zeus.
The drawbar and the yoke of the wagon.

How to tie the "Gordian knot"?

For many centuries it was believed that the "Gordian knot" is a myth, but subsequently scientists put forward an assumption, what kind of intricacies can correspond to it. Given that Phrygia was once part of Turkey, this knot could be the current Turkish knot. Outwardly, it resembles a ball with the ends cleverly hidden inside, so that it is impossible to unravel it. If there is a "Gordian knot" - how to knit? Those who wish can repeat the deed of Gordias according to the instructions:

Take a meter of rope, stretch the right end longer than the left.
Roll the first end into a loop and put on the second.
Lower the left end into the right loop, thread it through and put it on the same loop, creating a left one.
Align three loops and make a fourth loop from the second end. They also repeat the weave.
You get a plexus that can really be formed into a ball if you insert pencils into the center and squeeze with your palms. Then pull out the rods, tighten the ends of the rope.

What does it mean to cut the Gordian knot?

"If it is impossible to untie it, then it is possible to cut the" Gordian knot ", - this is the conclusion great commander Alexander the Great. The Phrygians told him a legend that whoever unraveled the knot would become the ruler of all of Asia, and the hero decided to achieve what he wanted by cutting the rope. Thanks to this, the story received 2 phraseological units:

"Gordian knot".
"Cut the Gordian knot."

If the first idiom symbolizes an extremely confusing situation or difficult problem What does it mean to "cut the Gordian knot"? Here, too, 2 similar explanations are offered:

solve the problem with one strong-willed decision, at its discretion.
make a decision without much thought, with a possible violation of the conditions set.

The king who cut to cut

The myth "Gordian knot" tells that in 334 BC. Phrygia was captured by the great warrior Alexander the Great. When he learned the legend, allegedly the one who can untie the knot of King Gordias is worthy of being the ruler of Asia, he decided to prove his right. When the young commander realized that it was unrealistic to unravel the interlacing of ropes, and it was impossible to deviate from what had been said, then, without hesitation, he launched a weapon. Although the warrior violated the conditions, the oracles recognized his right, explaining the situation that it was more realistic to conquer the world with a sword without resorting to diplomacy.

Later, studying ancient texts, scientists found 2 versions of the legendary decision of Macedonian:

The Warrior cut the knot with a single blow of his sword.
He got rid of the knot, freeing the yoke on which the rope was wound.

Consider Ancient Greek idiom "Gordian knot" .

The whole story with this knot has some oddities.

let's consider meaning, origin and sources of phraseology, as well as examples from the works of writers.

The meaning of phraseology

The Gordian Knot is an extremely confusing affair.

Synonyms: intricacies, complex problem

AT foreign languages there are direct analogues of the phraseologism "Gordian knot":

Gordian knot (English)
gordischer Knoten (German)
nœud gordien (French)

Gordian knot: the origin of phraseology

As already noted, the history of this intricate knot is also strangely intricate. It all starts with the fact that after lengthy civil strife in the kingdom of Phrygia, the oracle announced that the king would be the one whom the Phrygians first met riding a cart on the way to the temple of Zeus. This man turned out to be the peasant Gordius.

Gordius himself brought his wagon into the temple of Zeus as a gift to the gods for the unexpectedly acquired royal title and tied it with his “signature” knot, which no one has been able to untie for many centuries.
The wagon that brought good luck to Gordia was installed by him in the citadel of the capital of Phrygia founded by him - the city of Gordion, and also tied with a complex knot.
The wagon was presented to Zeus in Gordion by Midas (who was credited with "donkey ears"), the son of Gordius, who also tied the Gordian knot.

One way or another, the knot appeared (by the way, phraseological units about the knot). It was so skillfully made that it was impossible even to find its ends.

And this knot would have remained a local curiosity, but the oracle predicted that whoever unties the Gordian knot would become the ruler of Asia. Many have tried but failed. Asia lived quietly.

Until in 334 Gordion entered with his army young Alexander Macedonian. Naturally, the ambitious commander could not pass by a promising knot, especially since he was busy with the conquest of Asia at that time.

But even here there are different versions of events:

According to the most common version, Alexander simply took and cut the knot with his sword (from where the idiom "cut the Gordian knot" came from).
According to another version, in accordance with the story of Aristobulus, "Alexander easily managed to solve the problem and release the yoke by removing the hook from the front end of the drawbar - the so-called" gestor ", which fastens the jugular belt."

Whatever it was in reality, but the version with the sword eventually became more effective and suitable for the great warrior.

What is the strangest part of this whole story? It is believed that the knot was tied from dogwood bast. How long did he have to wait for the sword of Alexander the Great? From the middle of the VIII century BC. (During the reign of King Gordius I) more than a thousand years passed before the year 334 of the new era. It is highly doubtful whether the dogwood bast knot could have survived so long.

Sources

The history of the Gordian knot is narrated in the writings of the Roman authors Quintus Curtius Rufus, Mark Junian Justin, Plutarch, and others.

Examples from the works of writers

It's also easy to take it off.
It's hard to unravel the Gordian knot. (W. Shakespeare, Cymbeline)

He parted ... Some kind of Gordian knot dragged on - I had to cut it, but it hurt! (I.S. Turgenev, "Rudin")

When the bell tower struck seven and only one star remained in the pink sky, lonely and clear, and some ship, having set off, gave an inconsolable farewell whistle, I felt on my throat the Gordian knot of all those Loves that could happen, but did not happen. (G.G. Marquez, "Remembering My Sad Whores")

Phrase"Gordian knot" means a certain situation when the task or problem being performed is so complex that the person solving this task needs to apply an original non-standard approach.

The history of the expression "Gordian knot"

The legend of the great conqueror Alexander the Great has survived to this day, who, instead of thoughtfully solving a difficult problem, used his sword to eliminate the difficulty that had arisen. And the story began long before Alexander. The priests of the god Zeus announced publicly that the next Phrygian king the person who first enters the city can become. This lucky man unexpectedly became an ordinary peasant, whose name was Gordius. his day. Deciding to have some fun, this former peasant tied his former cart to the altar in such a cunning way that even the most dexterous and trained people could not untie those knots.

Then the Phrygian oracle, seeing that there was no way to untie the knots created by the cunning peasant guy, announced a new prophecy publicly. greatest empire on a planet that will unite all of Asia. His name will become famous for centuries.

Some time passed and under the walls of Phrygia stood the army of a young, but very ambitious ruler Alexander the Great.Having heard about that prophecy, Alexander immediately went to the temple, where he saw the same picture that his unsuccessful predecessors saw, a cart tied with a thin rope to the altar. Having carefully examined all the knots and plexuses of this Gordian puzzle, Alexander realized that he was not in able to solve this problem. Then another, but no less brilliant solution to this problem came to his mind.
Alexander pulled out his short sword and slashed it along the rope holding the cart. The knots fell apart and Alexander solved the task in such a non-trivial way. said the oracle.

Thus this difficult and unusual task was solved, the rumor about it quickly spread all over Phrygia, and then the whole world.
As Alexander the Great himself remarked, If you can't untie it, then you need to cut it". This means that if the problem is not solved, then it is worth looking at it from a completely different angle.
If the problem has no solution traditional methods and it is necessary to solve it, there is only one thing left - to take an extraordinary step and slash with a sword with all its might. This means getting out of a difficult and difficult situation with the help of some new original solution. This is what the phrase " cut the Gordian knot".

Read more.

Gordian knot

Gordian knot
According to a legend told by ancient historians, the Phrygians, who were ordered by the oracle to choose the king of the one who first met them with a cart on the way to the temple of Zeus, met with a simple farmer Gordius and proclaimed him king. The cart that changed his fate, Gordius placed in the temple of Zeus and attached a yoke to its drawbar, tying a very complex knot. According to the oracle, the one who manages to unravel this knot will be the ruler of all Asia.
According to the ancient writers Curtius Ruf and Plutarch, biographers of Alexander the Great, this commander did not unravel the knot - he simply cut it with his sword.
Allegorically: some extremely complicated case, a web of circumstances, a complex problem.
Hence also another, derived from this, popular expression“cut the Gordian knot”, that is, it is very simple to resolve any complex, intricate matter, by a strong-willed decision, without much thought -> etc.

Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. - M.: "Lokid-Press". Vadim Serov. 2003 .

Gordian knot

According to a legend told by ancient historians, the Phrygians, who were ordered by the oracle to choose the king of the one who first met them with a cart on the way to the temple of Zeus, met with a simple farmer Gordius and proclaimed him king. The cart that changed his fate, Gordius placed in the temple of Zeus and attached a yoke to its drawbar, tying an extremely tangled knot. According to the oracle, the one who managed to unravel the knot should become the ruler of all Asia. Alexander the Great cut him with his sword. Hence the expression "Gordian knot" arose, meaning any intricate interweaving of circumstances; "cut the Gordian knot" - to resolve any complex, confusing matter, difficulties in a violent, straightforward way.

Dictionary of winged words. Plutex. 2004

Synonyms:

See what the "Gordian knot" is in other dictionaries:

A knot tied by the Phrygian Gordius on a chariot in a temple dedicated to Jupiter; the knot was tangled so skillfully that the oracle predicted dominion over all of Asia to the one who unraveled it: Alexander the Great cut the knot with a sword. Therefore, Gordian ... ... Dictionary foreign words Russian language

Modern Encyclopedia

Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

According to ancient Greek legend, a tangled knot with which the Phrygian king Gordius tied the yoke to the drawbar of the cart. The oracle predicted that the one who untied the knot would gain dominion over the world. According to legend, Alexander the Great in 334 BC. e. in… … Political science. Dictionary.

Gordian knot- GORDIAN KNOT, according to Greek legend, a tangled knot with which the Phrygian king Gordius tied the yoke to the drawbar of the cart. The oracle predicted: whoever untied the knot would gain dominion over the world. Alexander the Great in 334 BC in response to ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

Intricacies Dictionary of Russian synonyms. Gordian knot n., number of synonyms: 2 questions (21) ... Synonym dictionary

Dictionary Ushakov

GORDIAN KNOT. see knot. Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

Gordian knot- ■ Relates to the ancient world ... Lexicon of Common Truths

Books

The Gordian Knot, Schlink B. Former lawyer Georg Polger agrees to head a translation agency in a small town in southern France whose former boss has died under mysterious circumstances. At first everything...

According to legend, there really was such a knot that it was impossible to unravel.

And the legend goes like this:

Somehow the priests of the Phrygian temple of Zeus uttered such a prediction - whoever first steps outside the gates of the city must definitely become a ruler, and he will be a king of kings.

The unsuspecting and unknown poor Gordius rode into the city on his cart and was recognized as the king of Phrygia.

The cart was presented as a gift to the temple in which the prediction was made and tied to the altar.

But this knot was so intricate and cunning that no one could cope with it.

And then a second prediction arose that the one who unties this knot will become an even more powerful ruler and conquer the whole world.

And one day, the great Macedonian appeared in front of the knot and everyone froze in anticipation of submitting the knot to him or not, how he would untie it. And looking at the tangled bast, Alexander drew his sword and cut it.

Expression value:

Phraseologism "Gordian knot" is a description of some confusing situation that is difficult to understand. And the more you solve it, the more it gets confused.

But "cutting the Gordian knot" means to resolve the situation in one fell swoop, and to approach this in an unconventional way.