One of the legends that has been passed down from ancient history is the story of Alexander the Great and the Gordian Knot. The knot was named after Gordius, the king of Phrygia in Asia Minor.
The knot was a complicated ball of cord with no visible end or beginning. An oracle had prophesized that the future King of Asia would eventually solve the puzzle. As you can imagine, many people believed the oracle and attempted to untie the ball because they wanted to be King of Asia.
It wasn't until 33 B.C. that Alexander the Great visited the city of Gordium and attempted to unravel the knot. Out of frustration, he took his sword and severed the cord, untangling it. Perhaps you might think that was cheating, but the cords were probably spliced, glued, and perhaps heated to prevent any reasonable chance of untying.
Alexander the Great did fulfill the prophecy and became known throughout the land. And today, we use the term Cutting the Gordian Knot --meaning solving a very complicated problem.
Artists have made use of this legend by depicting various balls in complicated twists and turns, not unlike the human brain.
Scientists and Mathematicians brought the Gordian Knot into the 20th Century. Physicists and biologists have an interest in the concept of entanglement. Theories such as space-time loops and DNA knots make the Gordian Knot myth a puzzle to entangle. If they do solve the puzzle, will there be a Quantum Leap?
