Colchis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A historical region in ancient Georgia, known for its fertile lands and mythical associations from Greek mythology
2. A significant cultural and trade center during the era of the Ancient Greeks, reputed for the famed Golden Fleece
3. The land where the Argonauts journeyed to retrieve the Golden Fleece, often depicted in tales of adventure and heroism

Etymology: Colchis was an ancient kingdom on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, in what is now western Georgia, and its name reached English by way of Greek. The Greek form "Kolkhís" gave the region its label, and it became famous largely through the legend of Jason and the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece carried them to its king, Aeëtes, and his sorcerer-princess daughter Medea. Because the place was so distant and so tied to that myth, "Colchis" stayed mostly a literary and classical name in English, used by writers retelling the voyage rather than by travellers describing the land around them. The region itself is known today as part of Georgia, and the older name survives chiefly in histories of the ancient world and in the Argonaut stories.

Synonyms: ancient kingdom, region, land