Perse

PERSEIS was an Okeanid-nymph loved by the sun-god Helios. She bore him four children--the witches Kirke (Circe) and Pasiphae and magician-kings Aeetes and Perses.

Aeetes was the king of Kolkhis (Colchis), at the eastern end of the Black Sea, and Perses the ruler of the nearby kingdom of Persia. Perses was succeeded on the throne by his niece, the witch Medea, for whom the country was renamed Media. She was regarded as the ancestress of the Median royal family and probably as the founder of the order of the Magoi--the royal magicians.

Perseis' name was derived from the Greek word persô meaning "to destroy," "to slay," or "to sack with fire." Perseis was also the patronymic epithet of the goddess-witch Hekate, daughter of Perses, who was no doubt identified with the Okeanid-mother of witches. The name was later associated with the Greek words for Persia and the Persians.

THE OKEANIDES (Oceanids) were three thousand goddess-nymphs who presided over the sources of earth's fresh-water--from rain-clouds to subterranean springs and fountains. Their numbers included the Nephelai (Cloud-Nymphs), Aurai (Breeze-Nymphs), Naiades (Spring and Fountain Nymphs), Leimonides (Pasture Nymphs), and Anthousai (Flower Nymphs). They were all daughters of the great, earth-encircling, fresh-water stream Okeanos (Oceanus) and his wife Tethys.

The eldest among them were numbered among the Titanides (female Titans)--Styx, Dione, Neda, Metis, Klymene, Eurynome, Doris, Elektra, and Pleione. These were most likely heavenly goddesses of the clouds.

Some of the Okeanides personified divine blessings such as Metis (Wisdom), Klymene (Fame), Plouto (Wealth), Tykhe (Good Fortune), Telesto (Success), and Peitho (Persuasion). The goddess Nemesis was sometimes also included in their number as one who provided balance by punishing undeserved good fortune as might arise from her sister's gifts. These Good Spirits (Daimones Agathoi) were ephemeral in nature much like the dark children of Nyx (Night), the Spirits of Harm (Daimones Kakoi).

Another group of Okeanides were handmaidens of the Olympian goddesses, the most prominent of these were the sixty Okeanis companions of Artemis, Peitho the handmaiden of Aphrodite, and Klymene the handmaiden of Hera.

The Naias-Okeanides (Naiads) were primarily nymphs of springs, wells and fountains. They were often portrayed as the wives of the Potamoi (River-Gods) and mothers of younger Naiades.

The Okeanides were occasionally described as sea-nymphs. In the late classical era the mythical, earth-encircling, fresh-water river Okeanos was increasingly equated with the briny Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and his nymph-daughters reimagined as marine deities.