Howe has argued that the name and the hero were invented later, perhaps during the Archaic Period (ca. Martin Nilsson confidently dated Perseus and his myths to the Bronze Age (ca. Įxperts also disagree on when the name and its bearer originated. Other scholars have suggested that his name is connected with the underworld goddess Persephone or even with the Hittite war god Pirwa. Scholars in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries often believed the name was derived from the Greek verb πέρθειν ( perthein, "to sack, destroy"), combined with the ending -eus, which is common in many early Greek names ( Theseus, Prometheus, etc.): Perseus’ name is thus translated as “the destroyer.” An ancient folk etymology connected the name “Perseus” with the Persians, as he was sometimes said to have been their ancestor. The etymology of Perseus’ name is obscure.
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