In Greek mythology, Perses (; ) is a son of Helios, the god of the Sun, and the Oceanid nymph Perse. Perses was the brother of Aeëtes, king of the mythical Aea and keeper of the Golden Fleece. After the theft of the fleece by Jason, Perses usurped his brother and dethroned him until Aeëtes' daughter Medea returned to Aea and killed him.
Etymology His name is connected to either the Ancient Greek word perthō ( – "to sack", "to ravage", "to destroy"), or from the word for Persian, from Ancient Greek 'Persís' Περσίς.
Family As the son of Helios and Perse in many accounts, Perses would be the full brother of Aeëtes and Circe, and sometimes Pasiphaë (whose mother is occasionally Crete instead), and of Aloeus (whose only surviving mentions are in Eumelus' Corinthiaca).Hyginus, Fabulae Preface
Unlike his siblings, Perses was not mentioned in earlier sources like Hesiod's Theogony (which only lists Aeëtes and Circe as Helios and Perse's children) nor Apollonius Rhodius' Argonautica. Rather, most of the sources mentioning him are Roman. In Valerius Flaccus' Argonautica, Perses is a brother of Aeëtes only on his mother's side, his father being unknown.Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 5.259
Mythology Perses' brother Aeëtes had been warned by an oracle that great peril would come to him if the Golden Fleece was ever removed from Colchis.Diodorus Siculus, Historic Library 4.47.1 Indeed, after Medea helped Jason steal the fleece, Perses usurped the throne of Colchis from his brother, but was subsequently slain by Medea, his paternal niece, who restored her father to the throne,Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.9.28 as an oracle had once predicted that he would be slain by his own kin.Hyginus, Fabulae 27
One tale goes that after Perses seized power, Medea's son Medus (by either her second husband Aegeus or Jason himselfHesiod, Theogony 1000–2) arrived in Colchis and was imprisoned immediately, though under a false identity. Soon after a famine broke out. Medea arrived in Colchis too, claiming to be a priestess of Artemis, and unknowingly, betrayed her son's true identity to Perses. Medea, under the pretext of simply wanting to talk to him, secretly gave Medus a sword, and explained what had happened to his grandfather Aeëtes. Medus then slew Perses.Diodorus Siculus, Historic Library 4.56.1
Although distinct from the Titan known as Perses, who is only known for fathering Hecate the goddess of witchcraft, Diodorus Siculus in his Bibliotheca historica made this Perses the father of a witch-priestess sharing some traits and the name of this goddess, by an unknown mother; Perses' brother Aeëtes then married this Hecate and had Medea and Circe by her.Diodorus Siculus, Historic Library 4.45.2 Diodorus describes Perses as "exceedingly cruel" and "lawless".
Genealogy
See also
Cassiphone Pelias
Footnotes
Notes
References Apollodorus, Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Includes Frazer's notes. Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Hesiod, Theogony, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Hyginus, Gaius Julius, The Myths of Hyginus. Edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960.