Nike: Greek Goddess of Victory

The Story of Nike

Nike was the winged goddess of victory, a daughter of the Titan Pallas and the goddess Styx. Her brothers and sister were Kratos, meaning strength, Bia, meaning force, and Zelus, meaning rivalry. Together they stood for the qualities that win battles and contests.

When Zeus called on the gods to join him in the war against the Titans, Styx was the first to arrive, bringing her four children. Zeus rewarded them by keeping them always by his side. From then on, victory was forever at the side of the king of the gods.

Nike flew over battlefields and athletic contests alike, crowning the winners with glory. She has few stories of her own, because she was less a character than a presence that came to whoever the gods favored. She was often shown carrying a wreath or a palm branch, or pouring an offering.

Nike was closely linked with Athena and Zeus. The great statue of Athena in the Parthenon held a small figure of Nike in her hand, and so did the gold and ivory statue of Zeus at Olympia. On the Acropolis, a small temple was built to Athena Nike, and its parapet was decorated with carvings of winged victories.

The most famous image of Nike is the Winged Victory of Samothrace, a marble statue of the goddess landing on the prow of a ship, now in the Louvre in Paris. Her figure appeared on coins, vases and medals across the Greek world. The Romans called her Victoria, and her image still appears on Olympic medals today.