Colchis in Greek Myth

[Dim I Nticoudis]

  This theory seems to have gained popularity in Greece since there are 
several books based on it published every year.I dfon't think it sounds very 
convincing.Though there is some confusion in the legends whether the 
Argonauts headed in a western or an eastern direction the name of Colchis 
does not only appear in legend.The territory which Greeks called Colchis is 
now a part of the modern Republic of Georgia.At the time of the Barks story 
it was part of the U.S.S.R.Both Greek and Roman authors have left as plenty 
of information on the history of the area and modern archeologist have added 
to the picture.I don't see why the mythical and the historical Colchis 
should be considered different places.

  Furthermore the myth doesn't believe Jason was the first person to reach 
Colchis from Greece, at least if you take into account the versions of 
Apollonius of Rhodos and his contemporaries.According to them Aeetes was the 
first Greek in the area. Aeetes was the son of Helios, the Sun God and his 
wife Perseis.His father,who served as protector god of Corinth along with 
Poseidon, managed to crown his son King of Corinth.Aeete's sisters were:

  1)Circe, the witch who ruled her own island and later became a lover of 
Oddysseus and mother of several of his children.

  2)and Pasiphaa , the wife of King Minos of Crete and mother of among 
others Minotaur.According to the story Aeetes grew restles with time and 
decided to leave the throne of Corinth.He chose a replacement and agreed 
that if he or his descedents returned to Corinth the replacement and his 
descedents would return the throne too.After that he started jurnying for a 
while tilled he reached the area he chose to build Colchis and became King 
of his own city rather than that of his father.Jason only arrived when 
Aeetes was already an aging man.

  Circe's own island was placed in the Tyrrhenian Sea and Jason and 
Medea,Aeetes daughter,and the Argonauts are supposed to have stopped there 
so that Medea's aunt would cleare them from their guilt of the murder of 
Apsirt, Medea's brother.
Whether they got there from Georgia or America is probably a matter of 
speculation but what seems more probable?

  The only Barks stories that seem connected to the Argonauts myth besides 
"The Golden Fleecing" seems to be "Oddball Odyssey" where Magica DeSpell 
claims to be a distant descedant of Circe and actualy finds her wand and her 
writings and "The Many Faces of Magica DeSpell" where she translates another 
one of Circe's spells.Whether Miss DeSpell is "truly" a descedant of Circe 
and thus also the descedant of Helios and distant relation of Aeetes 
,Pasiphaa, Medea, Minotaur and many other persons from Greek Mythologie is 
probably open for anyone to speculate.


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