Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- CHAPTER XCI First Period of the Reign of Alexander the Great—Siege and Capture of Thebes
- CHAPTER XCII Asiatic Campaigns of Alexander
- CHAPTER XCIII Second and Third Asiatic Campaigns of Alexander—Battle of Issus—Siege of Tyre
- CHAPTER XCIV Military Operations and Conquests of Alexander, after his Winter-Quarters in Persis, down to his Death at Babylon
- CHAPTER XCV Grecian Affairs from the Landing of Alexander in Asia to the close of the Lamian War
- CHAPTER XCVI From the Lamian War to the close of the History of Free Hellas and Hellenism
- CHAPTER XCVII Sicilian and Italian Greeks—Agathokles
- CHAPTER XCVIII Outlying Hellenic Cities.—1. In Gaul and Spain. 2. On the coast of the Euxine
- INDEX
- Plate section
CHAPTER XCIII - Second and Third Asiatic Campaigns of Alexander—Battle of Issus—Siege of Tyre
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- CHAPTER XCI First Period of the Reign of Alexander the Great—Siege and Capture of Thebes
- CHAPTER XCII Asiatic Campaigns of Alexander
- CHAPTER XCIII Second and Third Asiatic Campaigns of Alexander—Battle of Issus—Siege of Tyre
- CHAPTER XCIV Military Operations and Conquests of Alexander, after his Winter-Quarters in Persis, down to his Death at Babylon
- CHAPTER XCV Grecian Affairs from the Landing of Alexander in Asia to the close of the Lamian War
- CHAPTER XCVI From the Lamian War to the close of the History of Free Hellas and Hellenism
- CHAPTER XCVII Sicilian and Italian Greeks—Agathokles
- CHAPTER XCVIII Outlying Hellenic Cities.—1. In Gaul and Spain. 2. On the coast of the Euxine
- INDEX
- Plate section
Summary
B.C. 333. Alexander cuts the Gordian knot
It was about February or March 333 B.C., when Alexander reached Gordium; where he appears to have halted for some time, giving to the troops who had been with him in Pisidia a repose doubtless needful. While at Gordium, he performed the memorable exploit familiarly known as the cutting of the Gordian knot. There was preserved in the citadel an ancient waggon of rude structure, said by the legend to have once belonged to the peasant Gordius and his son Midas—the primitive rustic kings of Phrygia, designated as such by the Gods, and chosen by the people. The cord (composed of fibres from the bark of the cornel tree), attaching the yoke of this waggon to the pole, was so twisted and entangled as to form a knot of singular complexity, which no one had ever been able to untie. An oracle had pronounced, that to the person who should untie it the empire of Asia was destined. When Alexander went up to see this ancient relic, the surrounding multitude, Phrygian as well as Macedonian, were full of expectation that the conqueror of the Granikus and of Halikarnassus would overcome the difficulties of the knot and acquire the promised empire. But Alexander, on inspecting the knot, was as much perplexed as others had been before him, until at length, in a fit of impatience, he drew his sword and severed the cord in two. By every one this was accepted as a solution of the problem, thus making good his title to the empire of Asia; a belief which the Gods ratified by a storm of thunder and lightning during the ensuing night.
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- A History of Greece , pp. 140 - 241Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1856