Nike (Victory)

god

Νίκη

Goddess of victory

The winged goddess of victory who flew across battlefields crowning the victors and who stood beside Zeus as his constant companion.

The Myth

Nike was the daughter of the Titan Pallas and the Oceanid Styx. When Zeus called the gods to war against the Titans, Styx was the first to rally to his cause, bringing her four children: Nike (Victory), Zelus (Zeal), Kratos (Strength), and Bia (Force). As reward, Zeus made them his permanent attendants. Nike stood at Zeus's side on Olympus, and she flew across battlefields bestowing victory on the side the gods favoured. She was depicted as a winged woman carrying a laurel wreath or a palm branch. Her most famous representation is the Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Hellenistic masterpiece now in the Louvre — a figure of such dynamic beauty that it has inspired art for over two thousand years. At Athens, Athena Nike (Athena as Victory) had her own temple on the Acropolis bastion. The Greeks depicted Nike without wings in this temple — apteros, wingless — so that Victory could never fly away from Athens.

Fun Fact

Athens depicted Nike without wings so Victory could never leave the city — the temple of Athena Nike still stands on the Acropolis.

Explore Further

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god

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god

Nike was the winged goddess of victory in all domains — war, athletics, art.

Pallas (Titan)

titan

Pallas was the Titan god of warcraft and battle — father of Nike (Victory) and the patron of...

Styx (Goddess)

nymph

Styx was both a river and an Oceanid goddess — the first divine ally of Zeus in the Titanomachy,...

Styx (River)

place

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Winged Victory of Samothrace

concept

The monumental marble sculpture of Nike alighting on a ship's prow, created around 190 BC and now...

Athena

god

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god

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god

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god

Supreme ruler of the Olympian gods and lord of the sky. Zeus overthrew his father Kronos and...

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god

Zeus was the king of the Olympian gods, ruler of the sky, wielder of the thunderbolt — the supreme...

Zeus (Thunderer)

god

The supreme Olympian who rules gods and mortals from Mount Olympus, wielding the thunderbolt as...