Nike (mythology)

Nike
Stone carving of the goddess Nike at the ruins of the ancient Greek city of Ephesus
Goddess of victory
Abode	Mount Olympus
Parents	Pallas and Styx
Siblings	Kratos, Bia, Zelus
Roman equivalent	Victoria

Statuette of goddess Nike found in Vani, Georgia.

In Greek mythology, Nike (Greek: Νίκη, "Victory", pronounced [nǐːkɛː]) was a goddess who personified victory, also known as the Winged Goddess of Victory. The Roman equivalent was Victoria. Depending upon the time of various myths, she was described as the daughter of Pallas (Titan) and Styx (Water) and the sister of Kratos (Strength), Bia (Force), and Zelus (Zeal). Nike and her siblings were close companions of Zeus, the dominant deity of the Greek pantheon. According to classical (later) myth, Styx brought them to Zeus when the god was assembling allies for the Titan War against the older deities. Nike assumed the role of the divine charioteer, a role in which she often is portrayed in Classical Greek art. Nike flew around battlefields rewarding the victors with glory and fame.

Greek deities series
Primordial deities
Titans and Olympians
Aquatic deities
Chthonic deities
Other deities
Personified concepts
Apate Atë Bia Charites Eris Eros Harmonia Horae Hypnos	Kratos Metis Mnemosyne Moirai Morpheus Nemesis Nike Thanatos Themis Zelos

Nike is seen with wings in most statues and paintings. Most other winged deities in the Greek pantheon had shed their wings by Classical times. Nike is the goddess of strength, speed, and victory. Nike was a very close acquaintance of Athena, and is thought to have stood in Athena's outstretched hand in the statue of Athena located in the Parthenon. Nike is one of the most commonly portrayed figures on Greek coins.

Names stemming from Nike include amongst others: Nicholas, Nicola, Nick, Nicolai, Nikolai, Nicolae, Nils, Klaas, Nicole, Ike, Niki, Nikita, Nika, Niketas, and Nico.

In popular culture

• The fictional character Sora has a brother named Nike after the Greek goddess of victory in the Japanese manga series Air Gear.
• The shoe and sports equipment company Nike, Inc. is named after the Greek goddess Nike.
• Project Nike, an American anti-aircraft missile system is named after the goddess Nike
• A figure of Nike with a vessel was the design of the first FIFA World Cup trophy, known also as the Jules Rimet trophy.
• Since Giuseppe Cassioli's design for the 1928 Summer Olympics, the obverse face of every Olympic medal bears Nike's figure holding a palm frond in her right hand and a winner’s crown in her left.

Statue of the Goddess Nike on the Titanic Engineers' Memorial, Southampton

• In Tera Lynn Childs' young-adult novel Oh. My. Gods., the main character is a direct descendant of the goddess Nike.
• In The Darkest Prison by Gena Showalter, the Greek Nike, a guard of Tartarus who is the embodiment of strength, fell in love with the Titan Atlas, her male equivalent, when he was a prisoner at Tartarus.
• A statue of Nike can be also seen in Warsaw, Poland. It was built in 1964 to protect the capital of Poland.
• On the emblem of the University of Melbourne, the goddess also appears.
• She is depicted on the front of the World War II Victory Medal (United States).
• The hood ornament used by the automobile manufacturer Rolls-Royce depicts Nike.
• In Jennifer Estep's YA series Mythos Academy, the main character is the champion (see Mythos Academy) of the goddess Nike, who guides her throughout the story.

See also

• Winged Victory of Samothrace
• Altar of Victory
• Nike of Paeonius

External links

• Theoi Project: Nike
• Goddess Nike