1641) "Alexander and the Gordian Knot", Republic of Cameroon: A 2,000 Francs CFA Antique Finish Silver Coin brought out by Cameroon recounting the story: Year of Coin issue: 2021:
The story of Alexander & the Gordian Knot:
The Phrygians were without a king, but an oracle at Telmissus (the ancient capital of Lycia) decreed that the next man to enter the city driving an ox-cart should become their king. A peasant farmer named Gordias drove into town on an ox-cart and was immediately declared king.
Out of gratitude, his son Midas dedicated the ox-cart to the Phrygian god Sabazios (whom the Greeks identified with Zeus) and tied it to a post with an intricate knot of cornel bark (Cornus mas).
The knot was later described by the Roman historian Quintus Curtius Rufus as comprising “several knots all so tightly entangled that it was impossible to see how they were fastened”.
Alexander and the Complex Knot:
The ox-cart still stood in the palace of the former kings of Phrygia at Gordium in the fourth century BC when Alexander arrived, at which point Phrygia had been reduced to being a satrap, or province, of the Persian Empire.
An oracle had declared that any man who could unravel its elaborate knots was destined to become ruler of all of Asia. Alexander wanted to untie the knot but struggled to do so without success. He then reasoned that it would make no difference how the knot was loosed, so he drew his sword and sliced it in half with a single stroke. In an alternative version of the story, Alexander loosed the knot by pulling the linchpin from the yoke.
Alexander was confronted with the challenge of the knot, but his solution is disputed. Both Plutarch and Arrian relate that, according to Aristobulus, Alexander pulled the knot out of its pole pin, exposing the two ends of the cord and allowing him to untie the knot without having to cut through it. Some classical scholars regard this as more plausible than the popular account.
Alexander later went on to conquer Asia as far as the Indus and the Oxus, thus fulfilling the prophecy. When Alexander reached India, a fierce battle ensued with the legendary King Porus of the Paurava Dynasty who ruled in the Northwest of the Indian subcontinent during the 4th century BCE.
Porus's troops fiercely battled Alexander's army, almost decimating the Greeks. Porus thereafter made an honourable peace with Alexander and in the ensuing Treaty extracted an even larger territory in the Punjab, in what is present day Pakistan.
Thereafter, with his army depleted considerably and his commanders reluctant to move further East on a "World Conquest" Alexander abandoned his dreams of world domination and exited India on a return journey to his homeland, while a majority of his soldiers/commanders chose to settle down in India, exhausted with the travails of the futile campaign.
The Coin:
The Mint of Poland has issued a Silver Coin on behalf of the Republic of Cameroon, depicting the the story of and solving the problem of the Gordian Knot which has today come to symbolise finding a solution to a problem.
The specifications of this Coin are:
Denomination: 2,000 Francs CFA; Country of issue: Republic of Cameroon; Metal Composition: .999 Fineness Silver (Ag); Weight: 62.2 grams or 2.0 Oz; Dimensions/Size: 45.0 mm; Coin Quality: Antique Finish; Special Techniques: Ultra High Relief, Selective Gilding; Mintage: 500 pieces; Presentation Box/Case: Yes; Certificate of Authenticity (COA): Yes;
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