Nike

I have always found Nike intriguing, and she has reamined to be of some intrest to me, despite the fact that today she has fallen into obsecurity and she is not as well known as many of the other gods, but seems to be seen simply as Athena'side kick, for she was a constant companion of Athena, and in many depcitoons of Athena, Nike is near by, often in the palm of Athena's hand.

Nike is the Greek personification of victory. She can run and fly at great speed. She is a constant companion of Athena. Nike is the daughter of Pallas and Styx and the sister of Zelos (Rivalry), Kratos (Strength), and Bia (Force). She was represented as a woman with wings, dressed in a billowing robe with a wreath or staff.

Despite her ancestry, Nike fought on the side of the Olympian gods against the Titans, and thus was considered a manifest representation of the victory of the Olympians.

This did not mean that Nike's powers were confined to the military sphere: quite the contrary, in fact, for she symbolized victory in many areas of ancient Greek life, including athletics (perhaps this is why the legendary shoe manufacturer borrowed the name of this goddess) and other contests.

Images of Nike were popular in Greek art. Exquisite reliefs of the goddess, which are collectively referred to as Nikai, grace the parapet of the temple of Athena Nike on the Athenian Akropolis. In addition, one of the most famous depictions of the goddess of victory is the Hellenistic masterpiece known as the Nike of Samothrace.

Nike was called Victoria in Roman mythology.



"Nike." Encyclopedia Mythica from Encyclopedia Mythica Online
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/n/nike.html

http://www.loggia.com/myth/nike.html