In Greek mythology, Perses (; Ancient Greek: Πέρσης, romanized: Pérsēs, lit. 'destroyer or Persian') 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.
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Etymology
His name is connected to either the Ancient Greek word perthō (πέρθω – "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).
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.