Perse (mythology)

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

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.

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]

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]

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.^[21]

Notes

1. Hesiod, Theogony 356
2. Kerényi, Carl (1951). The Gods of the Greeks. London: Thames and Hudson. p. 40.
3. Bane, Theresa (2013). Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. p. 270. ISBN 978-0-7864-7111-9.
4. Hecataeus of Miletus, fr. 35A Fowler
5. Hard, p. 44
6. Homer, Odyssey 10.135; Hesiod, Theogony 956
7. Apollonius of Rhodes, 4.591; Apollodorus, 1.9.1; Cicero, De Natura Deorum 48.4
8. Hyginus, Fabulae Preface
9. Tzetzes ad Lycophron, 174.
10. Bell, s. v. Perse
11. Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.205^{[permanent dead link]}
12. Ovid, The Cure for Love Part IV
13. Apollonius of Rhodes, 3.478
14. Johannsen, Nina (2006). "Perse(is)". In Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth (eds.). Brill's New Pauly. Translated by Christine F. Salazar. Kiel: Brill Reference Online. doi:10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e914920. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
15. Diodorus Siculus, 4.45.1
16. The Classical Review vol. 9, p. 391
17. Karl Kerenyi, The Gods of the Greeks, 1951, pp 192-193
18. Fowler, p. 16, vol. II
19. The Classical Review vol. 9, pp 391–392
20. Mooney, p. 58
21. Raymoure, K.A. "pe-re-*82". Minoan Linear A & Mycenaean Linear B. Deaditerranean. "PY 316 Tn (44)". DĀMOS: Database of Mycenaean at Oslo. University of Oslo.
22. Chadwick, John (1976). The Mycenaean World. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 95. ISBN 0-521-29037-6. At Google Books.
23. Comments about the goddess pe-re-*82 of Pylos tablet Tn 316, tentatively reconstructed as *Preswa

    "It is tempting to see ... the classical Perse ... daughter of Oceanus ...; whether it may be further identified with the first element of Persephone is only speculative." John Chadwick. Documents in Mycenean Greek. Second Edition

References

• 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. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica translated by Robert Cooper Seaton (1853–1915), R. C. Loeb Classical Library Volume 001. London, William Heinemann Ltd, 1912. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica. George W. Mooney. London. Longmans, Green. 1912. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Bell, Robert E., Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary, ABC-CLIO 1991, ISBN 0-87436-581-3. Internet Archive.
• Hesiod, Theogony from 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. Greek text available from the same website.
• Homer, The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. ISBN 978-0674995611. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• 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.
• Hyginus, Gaius Julius, The Myths of Hyginus. Edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960.
• Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004, ISBN 9780415186360. Google Books.
• Kerényi, Karl (1951). The Gods of the Greeks. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-27048-1.
• Marcus Tullius Cicero, Nature of the Gods from the Treatises of M.T. Cicero translated by Charles Duke Yonge (1812–1891), Bohn edition of 1878. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Marcus Tullius Cicero, De Natura Deorum. O. Plasberg. Leipzig. Teubner. 1917. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Mooney, Carol M., Hekate: Her Role and Character in Greek Literature from before the Fifth Century B.C., a thesis submitted to the faculty of graduate studies, McMaster University, 1971.
• Ovid. Metamorphoses, Volume I: Books 1-8. Translated by Frank Justus Miller. Revised by G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library No. 42. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1977, first published 1916. ISBN 978-0-674-99046-3. Online version at Harvard University Press.
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859–1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses. Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Remedia Amoris in The Love Poems: The Amores, Ars Amatoria and Remedia Amoris, with an English translation by A. S. Kline. 2001. Full text available at poetryintranslation.com.
• The Classical Review, volume IX, 1985, Library of Illinois.
• Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Tzetzes, John, Lycophronis Alexandra. Vol. II: Scholia Continens, edited by Eduard Scheer, Berlin, Weidmann, 1881. Internet Archive.

External links

• PERSE on the Theoi Project