Sumi ink on bhutan paper. The Gordian Knot is a legend of Phrygian Gordium associated with Alexander the Great. It is usually used as a metaphor for an intractable problem (untangling an "impossible" knot) solved easily by a loophole or "thinking outside the box" ("cutting the Gordian knot"). Beauty can be coaxed out of ugliness. All things are imperfect. All things are incomplete.