InGreek mythology,Perses (/ˈpɜːrsiz/PUR-seez;Ancient Greek:Πέρσης,romanized: Pérsēs,lit. 'destroyer') is the son of theTitanCrius andEurybia, and thus brother toAstraeus andPallas. Ancient tradition records very little of Perses other than his marriage and offspring, his role largely being genealogical, existing merely to provide a parentage for other, more important figures.
According toTimothy Gantz,Hesiod "oddly" describes Perses as "eminent among all men in wisdom."[2][4] He was wed to his cousinAsteria, the daughter ofPhoebe andCoeus,[5][3] with whom he had one child,Hecate, honoured by the king of the godsZeus above all others as the goddess of magic, crossroads, and witchcraft.[4] In a lesser-known tradition mentioned byMusaeus, the father of Hecate was Zeus himself;[6] Zeus kept Asteria as his mistress for some time before giving her to Perses.[7][8]
He was sometimes confused with anotherPerses (the son of the sun-godHelios and the nymphPerse), who was made the father ofHecate in some versions.[9][10] He might also be the same Perses who is the father ofChariclo, the wife ofChiron, in some versions.[11]
