Nike (mythology)

Nike
Equivalents
Roman equivalent	Victoria

In Greek mythology, Nike (Greek: Νίκη, IPA: [níːkɛː], was a goddess who personified triumph throughout the ages of the ancient Greek culture. She is 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 Cratos (Strength), Bia (Force), and of Zelus (Rivalry). 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.

Nike is seen with wings in most statues and paintings, to remind people that victory is fleeting. 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. Nike is one of the most commonly portrayed figures on Greek coins.

Names stemming from Nike include Nicholas ("Victory of the people"), Nick, Nikolai, Nils, Klaas and Nicola.

In popular culture

• The shoe and sports equipment company Nike, Inc. is named after the Greek goddess Nike, as was Project Nike, an American anti-aircraft missile system.
• 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 the 1928 Summer Olympics, the obverse face of every Olympic medal bears Nike's figure holding a palm frond in her left hand and a winner’s crown in her right.
• In Kamichama Karin, Karin's dead cat Shi-chan had the goddess Nike inside her, and when Shi-chan died, Nike took over her body.
• 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.
• In the cult manga, and in the homonym anime, Saint Seiya, the statue of Athena holds in her right hand a little image of Nike, as it can be seen in many icons of the goddess. The little statue of Nike can be turned into a staff, which provides Athena certain victory.

External links

• Theoi Project: Nike

Nike is the companion of [[Athena]]