Perses | |
|---|---|
| King ofColchis | |
| King of Colchis | |
| Predecessor | Aeëtes |
| Successor | Medus |
| Wife | None |
| Issue | Hecate(rationalized account, rare) |
| Father | Helios or other |
| Mother | Perse |
InGreek mythology,Perses (/ˈpɜːrsiz/;Ancient Greek:Πέρσης,romanized: Pérsēs,lit. 'destroyer or Persian') is the brother ofAeëtes,Aloeus,Circe andPasiphaë, as he is a son ofHelios, thegod of the sun, byPerse, anOceanidnymph.[1]Unlike his siblings, Perses was not mentioned in earlier sources likeHesiod'sTheogony (which only lists Aeëtes and Circe as Helios and Perse's children) norApollonius Rhodius'Argonautica. Rather, most of the sources mentioning him are Roman.InValerius Flaccus' Argonautica, Perses is a brother of Aeëtes only on his mother's side, his father being unknown.[2]
His name is connected to either the Ancient Greek wordperthō (πέρθω – "to sack", "to ravage", "to destroy"), or from the word for Persian, from Ancient Greek 'Persís' Περσίς.
Perses' brother Aeëtes had been warned by an oracle that great peril would come to him if theGolden Fleece was ever removed fromColchis.[3] Indeed, afterMedea helpedJason steal the fleece, Perses usurped the throne ofColchis from his brother, but was subsequently slain by Medea, his paternal niece, who restored her father to the throne,[4] as an oracle had once predicted that he would be slain by his own kin.[5]
One tale goes that after Perses seized power, Medea's son by eitherAegeus or Jason,[6]Medus, 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 ofArtemis, 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.[5][7]
Although distinct from theTitan known asPerses, who is known for fatheringHecate, the goddess of witchcraft,Diodorus Siculus in hisBibliotheca 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.[8] Diodorus describes Perses as "exceedingly cruel" and "lawless".
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| Preceded by | King of Colchis | Succeeded by |
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