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Perse (mythology)
Oceanid nymph and wife of Helios in Greek mythology From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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.[1][2][3] Perse married Helios, the god of the Sun, and bore him several children, most notably Circe, the sorceress-goddess of Aeaea.
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Mythology
Perse was one of the wives of the sun god, Helios.[4][5] According to Homer and Hesiod, with Helios she had Circe and Aeëtes,[6] with later authors also mentioning their children Pasiphaë,[7] Perses,[8] Aloeus,[9] and even Calypso,[9] 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.[10]
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.[11] She seems to have been linked to witchcraft and knowledge of herbs and potions, much like her daughters Circe and Pasiphaë.[12] She might have also been associated with the witchcraft goddess Hecate, who was also called Perseis (as in "daughter of Perses")[13][14] and who is said to be Circe's mother in one version.[15][16]
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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",[17] as did Fowler, who noted that the pairing made sense given Hecate's association with the Moon.[18] It has been suggested that Hecate's "Perseis" epithet denotes lunar connections.[19] However, as Mooney notes, there is no evidence that Perse was ever a moon goddess on her own right.[20]
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.[22][23]
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Genealogy
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See also
Other nymphs and magic-related figures in Greek mythology:
Footnotes
Notes
References
External links
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