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In Greek and Roman mythology, the Gordian knot was an extremely complicated knot tied by Gordius, the king of Phrygia in Asia Minorancient term for modern-day Turkey, the part of Asia closest to Greece. Located in the city of Gordium, the knot came to symbolize a difficult problem that was almost impossible to solve.

According to legend, Gordius was a peasant who married the fertility goddess Cybele. When Gordius became king of Phrygia, he dedicated his chariot to Zeusin Greek mythology, king of the gods and husband of Hera (Roman god Jupiter) and fastened it to a pole with the Gordian knot. Although the knot was supposedly impossible to unravel, an oraclepriest or priestess or other creature through whom a god is believed to speak; also the location (such...