Colchis

Georgia wasn't always gloomy and molded by the Soviet Union; in fact, a variety of
sources show how great and rich it was of resources. We can learn about ancient Colchis
from two different kinds of resources: mythological and historical.
Mythological sources include the myth about Argonauts and the golden fleece.
Colchis is known to be the destination of Argonauts and Jason, as well as home for Medea
and Golden fleece. Medea has a great ancestry, her father being King Aeetes: son of god
Helios, brother of Circe and Pasiphae. Medea was known for her witchery which was
descended to her from her father. Because of Medea’s talents, in several works of Greek
tragedians, Colchis is mentioned as being a land of “Barbarians” and a dark place to live
overall. Even though, Euripides, was a bit biased, when he wrote “Medea” because he
wanted to empower Corinthian women and didn’t care about Colchians much, his character
Jason said: “...First, thou dwellest in Hellas, instead of thy barbarian land…” about Colchis to
Medea.
When talking about ancient Colchis it’s important to mention it’s geographical
location too. On this matter, Herodotus- ancient Geographer and historical, who wrote
that:“… the Colchians, whose country reaches to the northern sea into which issues the river
Phasis; so these four nations dwell between the one sea and the other.” Colchis had Black
sea on west and on North- Caucasus, which was known to be the “end of the world”
because of this the infamous Prometheus was chained on there. Titan Prometheus was also
an uncle of Circe and Aeetes, so he is connected to Colchis as well.
About Colchis culture itself, Hippocrates, Greek physician, said these about the
weather in Colchis :“As to the inhabitants of Phasis, their country is fenny, warm, humid,
and wooded; copious and severe rains occur there at all seasons… the Phasis itself is the
most stagnant of all rivers, and runs the smoothest; all the fruits which spring there are
unwholesome, feeble and imperfect growth, owing to the redundance of water, and on this
account they do not ripen, for much vapor from the waters overspreads the country…The
north wind scarcely reaches them, and when it does blow it is weak and gentle. Thus it is
with regard to the different nature and shape of the inhabitants of Asia and Europe.” David
Braund, researcher at University of Exter, agrees with Hippocrates and he said in 1994 that:
”The Colchian hinterland lacked salt and demand was satisfied partially by local production
on the coast and partially by imports from the northern coast of the Black Sea.”
Since we have so many geographical advantages, numerous nations couldn’t break in
the land of Georgia; however, some did. Because of this, Georgia’s culture is a mixture of
many lands that ruled us for years. It’s notable to mention the fact that Persians ruled over
us for decades. Herodotus said about this matter that “Gifts [for Persians] were also
required of the Colchians and their neighbors as far as the Caucasian mountains (which is as
far as the Persian rule reaches, the country north of the Caucasus paying no regard to the
Persians); these were rendered every five years and are still so rendered, namely, an
hundred boys and as many maidens. “
In conclusion, Colchis was once a powerful nation with great amount of resources
such as gold, iron, timber and honey and many nations tried to rob us from them but they
couldn’t and Colchis stayed standing. And we have many sources telling us about the
ancient Colchis since it’s one of the oldest nations which still exists today.