According to a well-known Greek myth, Colchis was ruled by King Aeetes. He lived in the extremely beautiful city of Phases at the mouth of the Rioni River. The king had a priceless treasure, the hide of a golden ram, which hung in a tree in a sacred grove and was guarded day and night by a fire-breathing dragon. It was for that Golden Fleece that the serene-eyed Jason, having gathered heroes from all over Greece (one of whom was Heracles), set out on his journey. After sailing for a long time they finally spotted the blue mountains of the Caucasus on the horizon. The daughter of the king, the sorceress Medea, fell in love with the handsome Greek and helped him steal the Golden Fleece. The Argonauts took it to their land, going through many more remarkable exploits on their way back.
33 centuries later, Timothy Severin , the Irish traveler, geographer and writer and a courageous explorer of antiquity, retraced the trip of the brave Argonauts and with this he confirmed the reality of myth.
He said later. "We saw the place where the tale of the Golden Fleece originated with our own eyes. But reality does not at all detract from the charm of the ancient story. I became convinced even more of the power of popular fantasy, of man's eternal striving for the beautiful. Our voyage displaced the only real myth, that people of different temperaments, nationalities and political systems allegedly cannot find a common language and strike up a genuine friendship."