In Greek mythology, Nike (Greek Νικη, pronounced /'nike/ "Nee-keh", meaning "Victory") (Roman equivalent: Victoria), was a goddess who personified triumph and victory. She was capable of running and flying at great speeds. Nike was the daughter of Pallas and Styx and the sister of Cratos, Bia, and Zelus. Nike and her siblings were all companions of Zeus.
Other than her great speed, she had no special powers of her own. She was effectively treated as a bringer of good luck and was often assimilated with other gods, for instance being depicted by Greek sculptors as a tiny winged figure perching on another god's arm, peeping out from a fellow god's clothes or flying above like a winged fairy. In her best-known depictions, such as the Winged Victory of Samothrace (now in the Louvre, Paris), she is shown as a naked or armoured winged figure. She was often depicted on Greek vases with her standard attributes of wreath, jug, phial, and thymiaterion (censer), shown standing alone, flying or striding, or pouring a libation over an altar. In some regions (particularly the Greek colonies of southern Italy) she was depicted as a charioteer. Elsewhere she was sometimes shown holding weapons or trophies, or playing a lyre or a flute.
Nike was often worshipped in conjunction with Athena, with whom she was particularly closely associated after the Greek victory over the Persians at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC. The great statue of Athena Parthenos in the Parthenon in Athens is thought to have depicted Nike, and the Parthenon complex included a Temple of Athena Nike, built around 410 BC. The Athenians also dedicated a statue to Nike at Delphi. The statue of Zeus at Olympia reportedly also depicted Nike. On occasions, Athena was depicted with Nike's attributes. According to Pausanias, the statue of Athena Nike depicted a wingless Nike ("Nike Apteros"), supposedly so that the statue could never leave the city of Athens. This temple has also provided a famous surviving depiction of the goddess, Nike unfastening her sandal ("Nike Slancio"), which was originally part of the temple parapret and is now on display in the Acropolis Museum in Athens.
Nike also presided over athletic as well as military contests. It was this meaning that prompted US footwear entrepreneur Phil Knight to borrow her name for his company, Nike, Inc., the clothing and sportswear manufacturer.
Nike was depicted in ancient Greek vase painting with a variety of attributes including a wreath or sash to crown a victor, an oinochoe and phiale (bowl and cup) for libations, a thymiaterion (incense burner), an altar, and a lyre for the celebration of victory in song.
Nike was closely identified with the goddess Athena, sometimes appearing merely as an attribute of the goddess.
The goddess of victory, or, as the Romans called her, Victoria, is described as a daughter of Pallas and Styx, and as a sister of Zelus (zeal), Cratos (strength), and Bia (force).
In Homer Athena already appears as the goddess of counsel, of war, of female arts and industries, and the protectress of Greek cities, this last aspect of her character being the most important and pronounced.
The usual attributes of Athena were the helmet, the aegis, the round shield with the head of Medusa in the centre, the lance, an olive branch, the owl, the cock and the snake.
In her right hand was a Nike or winged victory, while her left held a spear, which rested on a shield on which were represented the battles of the Amazons with the giants.
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