| Nike | |
|---|---|
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Other Names |
Victoria |
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First Appearance |
Greek Myth |
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Created by |
Unknown |
Origin[]
In Greek mythology and ancient religion, Nike is the personification of the abstract concept of victory. She was the goddess of victory in battle, as well as in other kinds of contests. According to Hesiod's Theogony, she is the daughter of Styx and the Titan Pallas, and the sister of similar personifications: Zelus, Kratos, and Bia (i.e. Rivalry, Strength, and Force).
What little mythology she had involved her close association with the gods Zeus and Athena. She was one of the first gods to support Zeus in his overthrow of the Titans, and because of this Zeus always kept Nike with him. Nonnus makes her the attendant of Athena, and gives her a role in Zeus' victory over Typhon. In Athens, she was particularly associated with Athena, and the cult of Athena Nike. In art Nike is typically portrayed as winged and moving at great speed. Her Roman equivalent is the goddess Victoria.
According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, the Arcadians had a legend that Nike was the daughter of Pallas (the son of their legendary king Lycaon), to whom Zeus gave Athena when she was born to be raised by him, and so was Athena's foster-sister. Or like Athena, Nike could be thought of as the daughter of Zeus himself.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of Nike from before January 1, 1930 are public domain in the US.
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- Theogony
- The Homeric Hymns
- Pindar, Odes
- Greek Lyric III Simonides, Fragments
- Greek Lyric IV Bacchylides, Fragments
- Greek Elegaic Theognis, Fragments
- Aristophanes, Birds
- The Library
- Description of Greece
- The Orphic Hymns
- Dionysiaca
- Fabulae
- Metamorphoses
- De Natura Deorum
- The Suda