Perse (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Perse (Ancient Greek: Πέρση, romanized: Pérsē, lit. 'destroyer') or Perseis (Περσηίς, Persēís) is one of the 3,000 Oceanids, fresh water-nymph daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. Perse married Helios, the god of the Sun, and bore him several children, most notably Circe, the sorceress-goddess of Aeaea.

Perse
Member of the Oceanids
Abode	Ocean
Genealogy
Parents	Oceanus and Tethys
Siblings	Oceanids, the river gods
Consort	Helios
Children	Circe, Aeëtes, Pasiphaë, Perses, Aloeus

Family

In the Theogony, an ancient Greek epic poem about the genealogy of the gods, Hesiod included Perse in his list of the 3,000 Oceanids, water-nymphs and daughters of two Titans, Oceanus and Tethys.^[1][2][3] Homer also made Perse a child of Oceanus.^[4]

Mythology

Perse was one of the wives of the sun god, Helios.^[5][6] According to Homer and Hesiod, with Helios she had Circe and Aeëtes,^[7] with later authors also mentioning their children Pasiphaë,^[8] Perses,^[9] Aloeus,^[10] and even Calypso,^[10] who is however more commonly the daughter of Atlas. It is not clear why Perse bore Helios, the source of all light, such dark and mysterious children.^[11]

When Aphrodite cursed Helios to fall in love with the mortal princess Leucothoe, he is said to have forgotten about Perse and all his other past lovers.^[12] She seems to have been linked to witchcraft and knowledge of herbs and potions, much like her daughters Circe and Pasiphaë.^[13] She might have also been associated with the witchcraft goddess Hecate, who was also called Perseis (as in "daughter of Perses")^[14][15] and who is said to be Circe's mother in one version.^[16][17]

Possible connections

Perseis' name has been linked to Περσίς (Persís), "female Persian", and πέρθω (pérthō), "destroy" or "slay" or "plunder".^{[citation needed]}

Kerenyi also noted the connection between her and Hecate due to their names, denoting a chthonic aspect of the nymph, as well as that of Persephone, whose name "can be taken to be a longer, perhaps simply a more ceremonious, form of Perse",^[18] as did Fowler, who noted that the pairing made sense given Hecate's association with the Moon.^[19] It has been suggested that Hecate's "Perseis" epithet denotes lunar connections.^[20] However, as Mooney notes, there is no evidence that Perse was ever a moon goddess on her own right.^[21]

An inscription of Mycenaean Greek (written in Linear B) was found on a tablet from Pylos, dating back to 1400–1200 BC. John Chadwick reconstructed^{[n 1]} the name of a goddess, *Preswa who could be identified with Perse. Chadwick found speculative the further identification with the first element of Persephone.^[23][24]

Genealogy

Perse's family tree
Gaia Uranus Hyperion Theia Oceanus Tethys Helios PERSE Circe Aeëtes Pasiphaë Perses Aloeus

See also

• Ancient Greece portal
• Mythology portal

Other nymphs and magic-related figures in Greek mythology:

• Medea
• Perimede
• Neaera
• List of Oceanids
• List of Mycenaean deities

Footnotes

1. The actual word in Linear B is 𐀟𐀩𐁚, pe-re-*82 or pe-re-swa; it is found on the PY Tn 316 tablet.^[22]