Origin and Meaning of Untying the Gordian Knot

What is a Gordian Knot?.
“The Gordian knot is often used as a metaphor for an intractable problem, solved by a bold stroke” (Wikipedia).
The origin dates back to the times long before Alexander the Great, (333 BC.) Pythia, (Macedonia), consisted of a bunch of small, poor kingdoms continuously fighting with each other. They were not unified and had no King. A sorry state of affairs. An oracle had decreed that when the time arrived for them to choose a king, the person to be chosen was he who arrived at the temple in an ox-cart (wagon).
One day while the priests were discussing the appointment of a King, a certain Gordius arrived in his ox-cart. Confirmation that he was the right person for the job came in the form of an eagle that landed on his cart at the same time. An oracle also decreed this sign. Now the oracles had been fulfilled, and he was promptly appointed King. By all accounts Gordius was not of royal blood, he was a peasant. Anyhow, he was made King, and one of the first things he did was to place his ox-cart at the temple of Zeus, in dedication.
Using cornel bark he tied the yoke of the wagon to a pole, securing it with an extremely complicated knot that was impossible to untie.
Many tried, but nobody could untie the knot, too difficult. The Alexander the Great arrived in Gordium and he tried his hand at untying the knot, but he too was unsuccessful. What he did was he took his sword and severed the rope with a single stroke. Problem solved.
There are numerous Internet articles on the knot and cord, analyzing possible physical characteristics. One interesting point is that the knot had no ends; the two ends spliced or weaved together. For the technically minded there are lots of articles.
The meaning of Alexander’s action? By cutting, and not untying the rope, Alexander had a “quick and dirty” solution to a difficult problem. An example of thinking “outside the box?”. Definitions often include words such as a sudden, harsh, single fast, and even brutal decision.
A further oracle decreed that the person who untied the knot would become the King of Persia. Alexander might not have solved the problem, but he did find a solution to the problem, and did become the King of Persia.
Image and definition from Wikipedia, rest of the stuff from more sources than I can recall.

Hercules (Heracles) and the Hydra: Mythology, Second labor

This was the second task that Hercules had to undertake to atone for his sins. The Hydra was a terrible nine-headed water serpent that lived in the swamps of Lerna and guarded the gates of the underworld.
The Hydra had nine heads. Eight of the heads were mortal, and the ninth head, surrounded, by the other eight, was immortal. However should one of the mortal heads be removed, two would grow in its place. The Hydra also had an obnoxious and poisonous breath.
The Hydra would devour cattle and other livestock in the surrounding areas, and in general, terrorize the locals. To solve this problem Hercules was sent off to kill the monster.
Hercules took his nephew along with him, Iolous, who was an expert charioteer and Olympian.
Before Hercules could kill the Hydra, he had to kill a giant crab, sent by Hera to make things more difficult. He killed the crab with his club. The crab was rewarded with a place in the constellation, Cancer, by Hera for services rendered.
To flush the Hydra from hiding, he shot a number of flaming arrows into its lair.
Hercules soon found out that it was impossible to kill the beast with a club, his preferred weapon, and took a sword, (some sources say sickle), covered his mouth with a cloth, and chopped the heads off one at a time. His nephew then cauterized the neck wound with a flaming torch, so that no further heads could grow.
After a long struggle the eight mortal heads were removed, leaving the immortal head. This was chopped off and buried under a large and heavy stone. (If the head was immortal, why would this help? Just to keep it out of the way? Somewhere I read that this head came back later to cause problems..will find out in due course)
Hercules then dipped the points if his arrows in the poisonous blood of the hydra, (some sources say gall), for future use.
The interesting part about this story is that it was seen as incomplete, as he had help from his nephew, and did not undertake the task on his own.
Some sources maintain that the original tasks set were increased, to make up for the slip-up.
Image from Wikipedia.:
(Hercules from Roman Mythology and Heracles from Greek. If you do a net search use both, different range of hits)
First Labor, the Nemean lion

Mythology: The Phoenix, the bird that rose from the ashes

The Phoenix was the mythological bird that rose from the ashes of its own destruction. I was reading up on Salamander Bay (RSA), and this led to the salamander then fire and ultimately to the Phoenix.
The Phoenix has Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Oriental, Persian and Christian origins, with different interpretations. The Egyptian Phoenix, Bennu, appears to be the oldest reference.
From Greek Mythology the name Phoenix was derived from the colors red, crimson, purple and gold, denoting fire
Only one Phoenix lived at any given time, and lived from 500 to 1,500 years, depending on the source. Some sources say that this bird was never seen eating. The Phoenix had a beautiful song, and in the morning as it bathed the sun god would stop a while to listen to it singing.
When the Phoenix knew death was approaching he would build a nest of cinnamon sticks and set it alight, to be consumed by the flames. From these ashes a young Phoenix arises. (Some sources say an egg, others a young bird).
The bird rising from the ashes signifies regeneration and immortality.
A good starting point, is Wikipedia, sufficient links to keep you busy for a couple of days if you need to dig deeper

Mythology: Who or what was Delphi, Meaning and Origin

According to ancient belief Delphi was situated in the exact centre of the habitable earth and the centre of the Universe. (Zeus set two eagles free on the opposite ends of the earth and where they met denoted the centre.)
Situated on Mount Parnassus in Greece, this was the place of the oracle of Delphi.
From this place, Apollo, the god of light, music, poetry and prophecy made known to mankind the will of the heavens.
At Delphi there was a crack in the earth from which came intoxicating vapours. A priestess known as the Pythia (Pythoness) would drink water from the river Cassostis and then eat leaves of the sacred laurel. Afterwards she would sit on a tripod over the opening and inhale the fumes. This would send her into an inspired trance.
Questions put to her were written down, put into verse form and communicated to the enquirer as the revelations of Apollo. It would appear as though these oracles were expressed in such a manner that they could be interpreted in various ways.
The oracle at Delphi was always consulted before an important decision was made and exerted a powerful influence on Greek history.
People who sought the advice of the oracle were also the bearer of gifts, in payment of services rendered. All accounts are that very large treasuries were built to house the gold, silver, artifacts and works of art so received.
The Pythian games, the forerunner of Olympic games were held here every four years.

PAN : The God of Panic and Sexual Prowess.

Stories around Greek mythology fascinate me, especially the lesser-known characters.
Pan was an ugly bugger. Always pictured naked, he had the torso of a man and the hindquarters, horns and legs of a goat.
He had, as all the other Greek Gods, an abundant portfolio of magic things he was able to do. His primary function was watching over shepherds and their flocks. This extended to any groups of living things, like fish etc.
He was definitely a Casanova. He was in love with Echo, a nymph, but she rejected his advances, as she had no time for men. She was an excellent dancer and singer. Now, this pissed Pan off and he had her killed. She was then torn into tiny, tiny pieces and spread out all over the earth. She still repeats the last words of others, all over the world.
He also tried to charm another Nymph, Syrinx, but she had the sense to run away from him. But he caught up to her on the banks of a river, and she begged the water nymphs to save her. They did, and as Pan touched her, they turned her into river reeds. When the wind blew through the reeds it made a plaintive sound. Pan took some of these reeds, and made a flute. And that’s where one gets the term Pan Pipes.
He was known for his sexual abilities, and all drawings and statutes depict this quite graphically.
A haunter of caves and forests was also one of his specialties, especially at night. He would scare the shit out of humans. If you feel scared in the dark when you are alone outside, mythology has it that Pan is around.
The word Panic, is derived from his name.