Alexander the Great cutting the chariot from the Gordian Knot.
The Phrygians were without a king, so an oracle said whoever walked through the city in an ox-cart was fit to rule the city without any arguments. A poor peasant Gordias was that man, and so became king. His son Midas dedicated the cart to the Phrygian’s equivalent of the Greek Zeus, and tied to a post with an elaborate knot of cornel bark. In 333 BCE , while Alexander and his army were resting in Gordium, Alexander wanted to try and untie the knot. He could not find the ends, and so could not undo the knot, causing him to cut through it with his sword so he could find the ends, and unwind it. His biographers declared that whoever made it untied the knot was to become King of Asia, as Alexander proved to be true, and not just a quickly thought up prophecy to make the powerful Alexander happy. There is now a saying to 'cut through the Grodian Knot' which means to cut through the matter without caring about any of the other details.
Just skimming the surface of the many places he visited can be found on this map : Alexander the Great
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