Nike (mythology)

File:Goddess_Nike_at_Ephesus,_Turkey.JPG.]]

The name derives from the Greek noun {{lang|grc|νίκη}} níkē meaning "victory", "upper hand [in battle or contest]". The word is of uncertain origin,{{cite book |authorlink=Robert S. P. Beekes |author=R. S. P. Beekes |title=Etymological Dictionary of Greek |publisher=Brill |date=2009 |page=1021}} probably related to {{langx|grc|νεῖκος}} neîkos "strife" and the verb {{lang|grc|νεῖκειν}} neîkein "to quarrel"; ultimately also of uncertain, possibly pre-Greek, etymology.{{OEtymD|Nike}} R. S. P. Beekes finds the word unrelated to Proto-Indo-European *ni-h₃kʷo- and sees no strong evidence for the proposed relation with {{lang|grc|νεῖκος}} and the Lithuanian ap-ni̇̀kti "to attack". In the Doric Greek dialect, the name was alternatively spelled as {{lang|grc|Νίκα}} Níka. The word gave several compounds in Ancient Greek, including the name {{lang|grc|Νικηφόρος}} Nikephoros "carrying away victory" and, through the verb {{lang|grc|νικάω}} nikáo "to win", it gave the epithet {{lang|grc|νικάτωρ}} nikator "victor".

Hesiod, in his Theogony, has Nike as the daughter of Styx and the Titan Pallas, and the sister of Zelus, Kratos, and Bia.Arafat, [https://oxfordre-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4425 s.v. Nike]; Scherf, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e822130.xml s.v. Nike, I. Mythology]; Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.33.xml 383–385 (pp. 32, 33)]; also Apollodorus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.2.4 1.2.4]. Compare with Hyginus, Fabulae [https://latin.packhum.org/loc/1263/1/0#0 pr 17.1] (Grant, [https://topostext.org/work/206#p.9 § p.9]). In one of the Homeric Hymns, Ares the god of war is said to be the "father of warlike Victory [Nike]".Parada, s.v. Nike; Homeric Hymn 8 to Ares [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0013.tlg008.perseus-eng1:8 1–4]. 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.Scherf, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e822130.xml s.v. Nike, I. Mythology]; Parada, s.v. Pallas 2; Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquites [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/dionysius_halicarnassus-roman_antiquities/1937/pb_LCL319.107.xml 1.33.1]. Or like Athena, Nike could be thought of as the daughter of Zeus himself.Scherf, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e822130.xml s.v. Nike, I. Mythology]; Himerius. Orations [https://topostext.org/work/861#65.3 65.3 Colonna] [= [https://books.google.com/books?id=k4gUAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA717 19.3 Wernsdorf]]; Nonnus, Dionysiaca [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/nonnos-dionysiaca/1940/pb_LCL344.97.xml 2.699–701 (pp. 96, 97)].

File:Nike Louvre L32.jpg

Nike had little to no independent mythology.Arafat, [https://oxfordre-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4425 s.v. Nike]: "Nike has no mythology of her own"; Scherf, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e822130.xml s.v. Nike, I. Mythology]: "In mythology, [Nike] is rather inconspicuous"; Tripp, s.v. Nike: "Nike ... was more a symbol than a mythological character". She was closely associated with both Zeus and Athena, and can appear as a constant companion or attribute of either god.Sikes, pp. 280—283; Tripp, s.v. Nike: "she was a constant companion—that is, an attribute—of Zeus"; Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n532/mode/1up p. 850]: "Nike kann als Begleiterin oder als Attribut zu allen siegspendenden Gottheiten auftrenten. Sie ist besonders eng mit Athena verbunden und erscheint sehr häufig in Szenen, die erfolgreiche Heldentaten dartsellen". In her earliest mention, by Hesiod, Nike is said to have received honors from Zeus for her support of Zeus in his overthrow of the Titans, but no details are given. Following Hesiod, Nike's next several mentions occur, not in connection with military victory, but rather in the granting of victory in other kinds of contests (agones), including athletic or theatrical competitions. The fifth-century AD Greek poet Nonnus gave Nike a minor role in Zeus' battle with Typhon.

The first mention of Nike occurs in the Theogony of Hesiod ({{Circa|730–700 BC}}).Arafat, [https://oxfordre-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4425 s.v. Nike]. For the Theogony's date of composition see West 1966, p. 45. According to Hesiod's account, in preparation for the Titanomachy, the Olympians' war against the Titans, Zeus called all the gods to Mount Olympus to determine their allegiance. He declared that any god that chose to align with him against Cronus would receive his honor and favor. The first to do so was Styx, who brought Zeus her children: Nike, the personification of victory, and her brothers Zelus, Kratos, and Bia, the personifications of glory, power and strength. Nike and her brothers all represented qualities which would be invaluable to Zeus in the coming war. As a result Zeus forever honored Nike and her brothers keeping them always with him.Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA49 p. 49]; Arafat, [https://oxfordre-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4425 s.v. Nike]; West 1966, p. 273 386–7: "The children of Styx are always with Zeus"; Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.33.xml 386–401 (pp. 32–35)]. And as such, the qualities represented by Nike and her brothers would become attributes of Zeus himself.Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA49 p. 49]; West 1988, p. 68, n. 384–385, which describes Styx's children as "personifications of qualities inseparably associated with Zeus as king of the gods."

File:Nike with helmet and shield oinochoe Nationalmuseet 1222.jpg, 5th century BC]]

In Nonnos' Dionysiaca, Nike comes to aid Zeus in his battle against the many snake-headed giant Typhon, who has stolen Zeus' weapons the thunderbolts and begun a concerted attack on the heavens and the seas.Nonnus, Dionysiaca [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/nonnos-dionysiaca/1940/pb_LCL344.15.xml 1.163–293 (pp. 14–25)]. When Thyphon discovers that Zeus has, through trickery, retrieved his thunderbolts, Typhon renews his attack, laying waste to the earth.Nonnus, Dionysiaca [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/nonnos-dionysiaca/1940/pb_LCL344.45.xml 2.1–93 (pp. 44–51)]. The day ends with Typhon unchallenged, while Zeus waits through the night for the approaching dawn.Nonnus, Dionysiaca [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/nonnos-dionysiaca/1940/pb_LCL344.57.xml 2.163–169 (pp. 56, 57)].

Nike, in the form of Leto, finds Zeus alone waiting in the dark and reproaches him saying:Nonnus, Dionysiaca [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/nonnos-dionysiaca/1940/pb_LCL344.61.xml 2.205–209 (pp. 60, 61)].

{{blockquote|Lord Zeus! stand up as champion of your own children! Let me never see Athena mingled with Typhon, she who knows not the way of a man with a maid! Make not a mother of the unmothered! Fight, brandish your lightning, the fiery spear of Olympos! Gather once more your clouds, lord of the rain! For the foundations of the steadfast universe are already shaking under Typhon's hands ...!Nonnus, Dionysiaca [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/nonnos-dionysiaca/1940/pb_LCL344.61.xml 2.208–215 (pp. 60, 61)].]|Nonnus' Dionysiaca, translation by W. H. D. Rouse}}

Nike expresses here her particular concerns (as her attendant) for Athena, the motherless maiden daughter of Zeus. She goes on to tell Zeus that many gods have already given up and fled the battle including Ares, Hermes, Apollo, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. She also reminds Zeus of the terrible consequences if Typhon were to win, mentioning again the rape and enslavement of Athena, as well as that of Zeus' other maiden daughter Artemis.Nonnus, Dionysiaca [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/nonnos-dionysiaca/1940/pb_LCL344.61.xml 2.215–236 (pp. 60–63)].

When in the morning Typhon again issued his challenge, Zeus gathered the clouds around himself for armor and answered the monster's threats. Nike leads Zeus into battle, as Eris (Strife) leads Typhon.Nonnus, Dionysiaca [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/nonnos-dionysiaca/1940/pb_LCL344.63.xml 2.244–358 (pp. 62-73)]. During the fighting, Nike "lifted her shield and held it before Zeus", while Zeus, armed with "his aegis-breastplate", attacked with his thunderbolts. After a long and cataclysmic battle, Zeus is able to defeat the monster and claim victory.Nonnus, Dionysiaca [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/nonnos-dionysiaca/1940/pb_LCL344.77.xml 2.418–630 (pp. 77-91)]. As the victorious Zeus rides off the battlefield in his golden chariot, Nike is "by his side" driving "her father's team with the heavenly whip".Nonnus, Dionysiaca [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/nonnos-dionysiaca/1940/pb_LCL344.97.xml 2.699–701 (pp. 96, 97)].

In Hesiod's Theogony, this battle is described differently. There is no indication of Zeus being hesitant or fearful and Nike makes no appearance to encourage or aid Zeus in his battle with Typhon.Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.43.xml 492–506 (pp. 42, 43)].

File:Nike youth Met 28.167.jpg, {{circa|450}} BC|205x205px]]

Nike is next encountered several times in the early fifth-century BC Greek lyric poetry of Bacchylides and Pindar.Sikes, p. 281. Bacchylides describes Nike as the "giver of sweet gifts", and standing next to Zeus judging "the achievement of excellence (arete)" for both gods and men.Arafat, [https://oxfordre-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4425 s.v. Nike]; Bacchylides, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0199.tlg001.perseus-eng1:11 11.1–9]. For both these poets, Nike is the giver of victory in athletic contests. Scherf, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e822130.xml s.v. Nike, I. Mythology]; Sikes, p. 281. Pindar has the victorious athlete collapse "into Victory's arms"Pindar, Nemian [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/pindar-nemean_odes/1997/pb_LCL485.55.xml 5.41–42]. or fall "on the knees of golden Victory".Pindar, Isthmian [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/pindar-isthmian_odes/1997/pb_LCL485.153.xml 2.26]. While Bacchylides has athletes winning honor and fame "by the will of Victory",Bacchylides, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0199.tlg001.perseus-eng1:6 6.10], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0199.tlg001.perseus-eng1:10 10.15]. or by "glory-bringing Victory".Bacchylides, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0199.tlg001.perseus-eng1:13 13.59].

Nike, invoked together with Zeus, could also occur in the context of war and battle.Scherf, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e822130.xml s.v. Nike, I. Mythology]. The first mention of this is by mid-fifth-century historian Herodotus. In his description of the decisive Battle of Salamis (480 BC), he quotes an oracle which supposedly had predicted the victory of the Greeks over the Persians by the agency of "Zeus and august Victory (Nike)".Herodotus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:8.77.2 8.77.2]. And the names of Zeus and Nike continued to be used together as a military invocation through at least the end of the fourth-century BC. Xenophon reports that the watchword "Zeus Saviour and Victory [Nike]" was used at the Battle of Cunaxa (401 BC),Xenophon, Anabasis [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/xenophon_athens-anabasis/1998/pb_LCL090.121.xml 1.8.17]. while, according to Plutarch the similar watchword "Zeus and Victory [Nike]" was used at the Battle of Ipsus (301 BC).Plutarch, Lives: Demetrious [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/plutarch-lives_demetrius/1920/pb_LCL101.69.xml 29 (902c)].

Nike could also be invoked in theatrical competitions, such as Athens' City Dionysia and Lenaia. Competitors, including the late fifth-century BC tragic playwright Euripides, and the late fourth-century BC comedic playwright Menander would sometimes included appeals to Nike at the close of their plays.Scherf, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e822130.xml s.v. Nike, I. Mythology]. Euripides concludes three of his plays with the appeal:

{{blockquote|Victory, may you have my life in your charge and never cease garlanding my head!Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-iphigenia_taurians/1999/pb_LCL010.311.xml 1497–1499], Orestes [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-orestes/2002/pb_LCL011.605.xml 1691–1693], Phoenician Women [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-phoenician_women/2002/pb_LCL011.397.xml 1764–1766].}}

Three of Menander's plays contain a similar formulaic ending:

{{blockquote|... May Victory

That merry virgin, born of noble line,

Attend us with her favour all our days!Menander, Dyskolos [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/menander_comic_poet-dyskolos_peevish_fellow/1979/pb_LCL132.355.xml 968–969], Misoumenos [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/menander_comic_poet-misoumenos_hated_man/1997/pb_LCL459.353.xml 995–996], Sikyonioi [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/menander_comic_poet-sikyonioi_sicyonians/2000/pb_LCL460.293.xml 422–423].}}

File:Elis-Olympia - 471 452 BC - silver stater - eagle - Nike - Berlin MK AM.jpg holding a wreath in left hand; silver stater of Elis, Berlin, Münzkabinett der Staatliche Museen 18214833 (c. 471-452 BC).Seltman, [https://archive.org/details/cu31924029779406/page/n27/mode/2up p. 14 (38)], [https://archive.org/details/cu31924029779406/page/n135/mode/2up Plate II (AC-αχ)]; Münzkabinett Staatliche Museen zu Berlin [https://ikmk.smb.museum/object?id=18214833 18214833].]]

Evidence for a cult of Nike exists for several locations in Greece and Magna Graecia.Scherf, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e822130.xml s.v. Nike, I. Mythology]. The so-called "Decree of Themistocles" (the authenticity of which has been debated) mentions sacrifices offered to Zeus, Athena, Nike, and Poseidon.Fine, [https://books.google.com/books?id=NjeM0kcp8swC&pg=PA305 pp. 305–306]. Vase paintings from the late Archaic show Nike in front of an altar or together with a sacrificial bull.Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, pp. [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n534/mode/1up 857 (Nike 56–58)], [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n556/mode/1up 897]; LIMC VI.2, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-2/page/n281/mode/1up?view=theater 563 (Nike 57)]. Nike may also have been assimilated into the cult of other gods, such as Zeus at Olympia, and most prominently the cult of Athena Nike at Athens.Arafat, [https://oxfordre-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4425 s.v. Nike].

According to the geographer Pausanias there was an altar to Nike in Olympia between an altar of Zeus Katharsios ("Zeus Purifier") and Zeus Chthonios ("Zeus Underground").Pausanias, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:5.14.8 5.14.8]. From as early as 500 BC, Nike is a frequent appearance on the coinage of Elis.Sikes, p. 281. Such coins were minted at Olympia, and are assumed to be temple-coins.Seltman, [https://archive.org/details/cu31924029779406/page/n13/mode/2up p. 1]. And, as such, are considered to be connected with the cult of Zeus at Olympia.Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n556/mode/1up p. 897]. The earliest of these (c. 510/490–471), show a flying eagle on the obverse, and, on the reverse, a winged Nike, wearing a long chiton, moving swiftly holding a wreathe in the hand of her outstretched arm.Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n534/mode/1up p. 857 (Nike 53)], [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n556/mode/1up p. 897]; LIMC VI.2, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-2/page/n281/mode/1up?view=theater 562 (Nike 53)]; Seltman, [https://archive.org/details/cu31924029779406/page/n21/mode/2up p. 9 (19)]; [https://archive.org/details/cu31924029779406/page/n135/mode/2up Plate I (N-π)].

File:ACMA 973 Nikè sandale 3.JPG, a depiction of Nike from the south side of the parapet of the Temple of Athena Nike; Athens, Acropolis Museum 973 (c. 420 BC).Pollitt, [https://books.google.com/books?id=CadI9xzUaZwC&pg=PA115 pp. 115–116, fig. 50]; Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n538/mode/1up p. 865 (Nike 154a)]; LIMC VI.2, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-2/page/n288/mode/1up 574 (Nike 154a)]; Stewart, p. 54 fig. 2.]]

Athena Nike is a cult title of the goddess Athena, with whom Nike was closely associated and was perhaps popularly confused.Mark, [https://archive.org/details/IRA.MarkTheSanctuaryOfAthenaNikeInAthens1993/page/n111/mode/2up p. 94]. The exact relationship between Nike and Athena Nike is uncertain. However, a cult title, such as Athena Nike, which joins the name of a major god with that of a more minor one known to have had their own independent cult suggests that such a fused title arose from the assimilation of an existing local cult by the major god.Mark, [https://archive.org/details/IRA.MarkTheSanctuaryOfAthenaNikeInAthens1993/page/n145/mode/2up pp. 127–128]; Falaschi, p. 77. Such examples given by Mark, [https://archive.org/details/IRA.MarkTheSanctuaryOfAthenaNikeInAthens1993/page/n145/mode/2up p. 127], (and repeated by Falaschi) include Ares Enyalios, Artemis Eukleia, Artemis Hekate, Athena Hygieia, and Poseidon Erechtheus. As noted by Mark, [https://archive.org/details/IRA.MarkTheSanctuaryOfAthenaNikeInAthens1993/page/n145/mode/2up p. 128 n. 17], while early scholarship has proposed that Athena's cult title preceded the personification, later scholarship, following Sikes 1895, has argued the opposite, that the joint cult title arose as the fusion of Athena with a preexisting Nike. See Mark and Falaschi for additional scholarship concerning this issue.

Athena Nike had a sanctuary on the Acropolis of Athens from as early as the beginning of the sixth century BC.Laughy, p. 420; Arafat, [https://oxfordre-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4425 s.v. Nike]; Stewart, p. 53. For comprehensive reviews of the ancient literary and epigraphic evidence for Athena Nike at Athens, see Mark, [https://archive.org/details/IRA.MarkTheSanctuaryOfAthenaNikeInAthens1993/page/n111/mode/2up 93–114], and Falaschi 2018. The title Athena Nike is first attested by an inscription on a block from an Archaic altar (dated 580–560 BC) found as part of the excavation and rebuilding of the southwest bastion upon which the current Classical (c. 420 BC) Temple of Athena Nike rests.Mark, pp. [https://archive.org/details/IRA.MarkTheSanctuaryOfAthenaNikeInAthens1993/page/n49/mode/2up 32–35], [https://archive.org/details/IRA.MarkTheSanctuaryOfAthenaNikeInAthens1993/page/n111/mode/2up p. 94], [https://archive.org/details/IRA.MarkTheSanctuaryOfAthenaNikeInAthens1993/page/n145/mode/2up 127]; Falaschi, pp. 75–76. This seems to have been the official title of the temple's goddess through the fifth and fourth centuries continuing into the Hellenistic period, although less formal texts, from as early as the fifth century BC, often refer to Athena Nike as simply Nike.Mark, [https://archive.org/details/IRA.MarkTheSanctuaryOfAthenaNikeInAthens1993/page/n111/mode/2up p. 94]: "indeed this short form, seemingly colloquial at first, appears to have become increasingly

accepted and to have led even to the popular confusion of Athena Nike, a form of Athena,

and Nike, the personification"; Falaschi, p. 76. In fact, the late fifth-century BC tragedian Euripides could refer to Athena herself as Nike.Scherf, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e822130.xml s.v. Nike, I. Mythology]; Falaschi, p. 77; Euripides, Ion [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-ion/1999/pb_LCL010.375.xml 457].

Ancient sources refer to a cult image of Athena Nike in connection with the temple at Athens which, unlike the normally winged Nike, was wingless (apteros).Mark, pp. 94–98. Heliodorus (150 BC?) is said to have written in his book Concerning the Akropolis that the Athenians venerated a wingless statue of Nike Athena which held a pomegranate in the right hand and a helmet in the left.Mark, [https://archive.org/details/IRA.MarkTheSanctuaryOfAthenaNikeInAthens1993/page/n111/mode/2up p. 93]; Stewart, p. 53; Harpokration, Lexicon s.v. "Nike Athena". Pausanias, writing in the second century AD, refers to the temple of Athena Nike as a temple of Nike Apteros, "Wingless Victory",Pausanias, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.22.4 1.22.4]. which is the name he gives to an image of the goddess, without wings, which he says the Athenians had placed there.Pausanias, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:5.26.6 5.26.6]. He explains that "the Athenians think that Victory, having no wings, will always remain where she is."Pausanias, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.15.7 3.15.7].

This cult image was part of the early sixth-century BC sanctuary which was destroyed by the Persians in 480–479 BC, although the image was preserved. It was later reinstalled inside the Classical Ionic temple which was surrounded on three sides by a sculpted parapet.Stewart, pp. 53–55. Carved into the parapet, one on each of the sides of the bastion (north, west, and south), were three sets of winged Nikes (Nikai), although the remains of the parapet sculptures are fragmentary, they are thought to form three votive processions each moving toward a seated Athena.Stewart, p. 56, 58 (figs. 2, 5, 12–14, 27, 28). As Stewart, p. 58, describes the three processions: "Though for the most part the details of the composition are a matter of conjecture, it is clear that on the north and south sides the array of Nikai moved toward seated Athenas at the west end of each (fig. 12), while on the west side itself, Athena was probably seated at the center with two streams of worshiping Nikai approaching her from either side." The three processions depicted Nikes, in the presence of Athena, erecting trophies and leading sacrificial bulls.Pollitt, [https://books.google.com/books?id=CadI9xzUaZwC&pg=PA115 p. 115]; Stewart, p. 55 fig. 5 ("two Nikai erecting a trophy", from the north side of the parapet), p. 59 fig. 14 ("two Nikai and a bull" from the north side of the parapet), pp. 66–67 fig. 27 ("two Nikai and a bull" from the south side of the parapet).

The sanctuary of the Classical Temple of Athena Nike was the most lavishly decorated of any in Athens.Stewart, p. 55. It was adorned with many depictions of battle and war, both historical and mythical, illustrating the subject of military victory under Athena's guidance. Stewart, pp. 55–56. These sculptural themes establish that Athena Nike was worshipped as a goddess of war and the overseer of military victory by at least the fifth century BC. However, it is possible that previously she had been primarily associated with victory in Athletic competitions.Laughy, p. 421, with n. 23. For discussions of this possibility, and arguments against it, see: Mark, [https://archive.org/details/IRA.MarkTheSanctuaryOfAthenaNikeInAthens1993/page/n144/mode/2up pp. 126–127]; Parker, [https://archive.org/details/athenianreligion0000park/page/90/mode/2up p. 90]; Blok, [https://journals.openedition.org/kernos/2274 para. 11]. The description, by Heliodorus, of the cult image holding a pomegranate suggests that, in the sixth century BC, Athena Nike was also associated with some aspect of fertility.Mark, [https://archive.org/details/IRA.MarkTheSanctuaryOfAthenaNikeInAthens1993/page/n144/mode/2up p. 126]; Stewart, p. 53; Laughy, p. 421 n. 24. Compare with Euripides Ion [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-ion/1999/pb_LCL010.375.xml 454–471], where the Chorus appeals to Athena, calling her Nike, to help Creusa "win" the gift of child birth.

The earliest evidence for a priestess of Athena Nike is provided by a decree, IG I³ 35, passed by the Athenian Demos in third quarter of the fifth century BC. The decree orders the building of a temple and an altar stone for Athena Nike, and instituted the first "democratic priesthood", that is one that was funded by the state and with the priest or priestess (as in this case) being chosen by lot, a significant departure from Athenian tradition. The degree also orders that the priestess be paid a stipend of fifty drachmae, as well as a share of the sacrifices. A later decree, IG I³ 36, orders that the fifty drachmae stipend was to paid for by the kolakretai.Laughy, pp. 418–419. For the text, translation and discussion of IG I³ 35, and IG I³ 36, see Blok 2014. As Laughy, p. 419, notes "Family

clans, called gene, traditionally controlled a number of the most prominent priesthoods. The priestess of Athena Polias on the Athenian Acropolis, for example, was, and always had to be, chosen by lot from the Eteoboutidai genos, The institution of democratic priesthoods was a remarkable innovation that exemplified increasing state involvement in the religious life of Athens during the fifth century". Whether there was already a priestess of Athena Nike prior to this degree is unknown.Laughy, pp. 419–420; Lougovaya-Ast, p. 213. A verse epitaph on a marble stele funerary monument (IG I³ 1330) names Myrrhine, daughter of Kallimachos, as "the first to serve the sanctuary (ἔδος) of Athena Nike, and, out of all, she was chosen by the

luck of the draw."For the text, translation, and discussion of IG I³ 1330, see Lougovaya-Ast 2006. As noted by Lougovaya-Ast, p. 213, "... it has been debated what is meant by 'the first priestess.' Was she the first priestess ever of Athena Nike? Or the first chosen by lot? Or the first of the temple?".

File:Statue of Nike (6th cent. B.C.) in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens on 3 April 2018.jpg (kneeling-run) pose. Found at Delos, Athens National Archaeological Museum 21.Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, pp. [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n533/mode/1up 853 (Nike 16)], [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n556/mode/1up 896]; LIMC VI.2, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-2/page/n279/mode/2up 558 (Nike 16)].]]

In art Nike is typically portrayed as winged, wearing a long robe, and moving at great speed.Bäbler, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e822130.xml s.v. Nike, II. Iconography]; Grimal, s.v. Nike. For a comprehensive discussion of Nike iconography, see Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n532/mode/1up pp. 850–904]. Although certain identification is usually not possible in the Archaic period, figures identified as likely to be depictions of Nike appear from the early sixth century BC on vases and as freestanding sculptures or acroteria.Arafat, [https://oxfordre-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4425 s.v. Nike]. Nike images also appear on small bronzes (from c. 550 BC),Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n535/mode/1up pp. 856– 857 (Nike 43–48)]. and coins (from 510/490 BC).Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n535/mode/1up p. 857 (Nike 53–54)].

Nike frequently appears in scenes depicting victorious deeds or participating in cult activities, such as victory sacrifices or the setting up of a tropaion (trophy). Although rare in the Archaic period, in the Classical and later periods, Nike can also appear as a companion or as an attribute to victory-giving deities, such as Zeus, and especially Athena.Bäbler, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e822130.xml s.v. Nike, II. Iconography]; Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n532/mode/1up p. 850].

There are so many impressive depictions of Nike that she "becomes an embodiment of Classical art".Bäbler, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e822130.xml s.v. Nike, II. Iconography].

File:Nike thymiaterion Met 13.227.16.jpg (incense burner); Metropolitan Museum of Art 13.227.16 (c. 490 BC).Beazley Archive [https://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/B0ED18F0-1F9C-4D14-B519-547258764E65 203159]; Metropolitan Museum of Art [https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/130009273 130009273].]]

File:Greek bronzes (1898) (14753660816).jpg 491 (c. 525-20 BC).Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n535/mode/1up p. 856 (Nike 46)]; Stuart, [https://archive.org/details/greekbronzes00murr/page/14/mode/2up pp. 15–17, fig. 4].]]

In the Archaic period, Nike does not yet have a specific fixed iconography.Bäbler, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e822130.xml s.v. Nike, II. Iconography]; Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n533/mode/1up p. 852]. Consequently she cannot always be reliably distinguished from other winged female figures, particularly the messenger-goddess Iris.Arafat, [https://oxfordre-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4425 s.v. Nike]; Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, pp. [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n533/mode/1up 852], [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n556/mode/1up 896]. Although some figures considered to be Nike are shown with a caduceus (kerykeion or herald's staff) or victory wreath, the caduceus is the primary attribute of Iris, and other winged female figures other than Nike can also be shown with wreaths.Arafat, [https://oxfordre-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4425 s.v. Nike]; Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n533/mode/1up p. 852].

Some early depictions of winged women have been identified as Nike based upon their juxtaposition with other images representing victory in athletic competition. Perhaps the earliest of these is found on the tondo of a Siana cup, by the C Painter, dated to the 2nd quarter of the 6th century BC. Its exterior depicts the return of a victorious athlete, while its interior depicts a winged women in the traditional knielauf (kneeling-run) pose heading right.Oakley, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ImvqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA155 155], [https://books.google.com/books?id=ImvqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA156 156 (fig. 7.28)]; Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, pp. [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n533/mode/1up 852 (Nike 1)], [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n556/mode/1up 896]; LIMC VI.2, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-2/page/n279/mode/2up p. 557 (Nike 1)]; Beazley Archive, [https://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/BE927C92-BB15-424E-9DBB-57925541AF95 300378]. In the Archaic period, this knielauf pose is the standard device for representing speed, and is characteristic of the figures identified as Nike.Near, pp. 41, 135; Arafat, [https://oxfordre-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4425 s.v. Nike]. They rush off to the side, but do not look where they are going, instead they maintain direct address and engagement by turning their head to look at the viewer.Neer, p. 135.

Such depictions lacking definitive attributes remain characteristic throughout the Archaic period. Nike's most important attribute, the victory wreath, gradually emerges in the second half of the sixth century BC, but remains rare. Other attributes associated with victory, the branch and tainia (head ribbon), also begin to appear in this period, while attributes associated with cultic acts, such as the phiale (libation bowl), oenochoe (wine jug), and thymiaterion (standing incense burner) appear sporadically as early as the turn of the fifth century BC.Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n556/mode/1up p. 896].

Sculptural depictions of Nike in the Archaic period served primarily as either votive offerings and dedications, or acroteria. Two of these, the Nike of Delos (c. 550 BC), attributed to Archermus, and the Nike of Callimachus (c. 480 BC), mark the beginning and the end of the period, and are considered representative. The Archermus Nike, a marble sculpture found at Delos, is generally considered the earliest sculptural Nike identified by inscription. It depicts a winged figure moving in swift flight to the left in knielauf posture. The upper torso faces frontally toward the viewer, and the head is crowned with a diadem.Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, pp. [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n533/mode/1up 853 (Nike 16)], [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n556/mode/1up 896]; LIMC VI.2, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-2/page/n279/mode/2up 558 (Nike 16)]. In the Callimachus Nike, a marble monument probably erected for the victory at Marathon (490 BC), the upper body, rather than being frontally oriented as in the Archermus Nike, is slightly turned to the right in the direction of flight, with the head looking backward. A second probably related fragment depicts a lower body in a very loose knielauf posture.Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, pp. [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n533/mode/1up 853–854 (Nike 23)], [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n556/mode/1up 896]; LIMC VI.2, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-2/page/n281/mode/2up 559 (Nike 23)].

Also of significance are a collection of small bronzes that were found primarily on the Acropolis of Athens, and are associated with the cult of Athena-Nike (see above). Such bronzes typically were used as the crowns or supports for various implements.Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n556/mode/1up p. 897].

Although Nike was already in close cultic association with Zeus and Athena, depictions of Nike in the company of these gods during the Archaic period (unlike subsequent periods) are rare. Probable examples include several amphorae (dating from c. 550 BC) which depict a small winged women, at the birth of Athena, standing (or running) beneath Zeus' throne.Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, pp. [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n534/mode/1up 857 (Nike 61–64)] [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n556/mode/1up 897] (regarding these small winged women, "mit ziemlicher Sicherheit", as Nike); LIMC VI.2, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-2/page/n281/mode/2up p. 563 (Nike 64)]; British Museum [https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1837-0609-27 1837,0609.27]. More frequently Nike was depicted among men in what can be interpreted as athletic or martial contexts.Moussaka, Goulaki-Voutira, and Grote, pp. [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n536/mode/1up 858–859 (Nike 72–93)], [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n556/mode/1up 897]; LIMC VI.2, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-2/page/n283/mode/1up pp. 564–567 (Nike 72, 75–81, 83–85, 88, 89, 91)].

As time goes on Nike's legs begin to straighten and her movement becomes a more subtle alighting movement with a slight forward component.Neer 2010, p.135-137. An example of a transitional phase in movement from the "kneeling run" to the alighting and striding pose is Paionios's statue of Nike discovered in the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. This statue of Nike was made of Parian marble and was dedicated to Zeus by the Messenians and Naupaktians around 420 BCE during the Classical period.Palagia, pp. 73-75. The statue originally stood near the temple of Zeus on an 8.45m high, three sided pillar. The statue itself was roughly two meters high and was orientated to face the east. Instead of flying sideways, Paionios's Nike advances forward with feet just alighting upon the ground. At her feet an eagle is shown to fly to the viewer's left as Nike moves forward with left leg stepping down to touch the earth. Her left arm is raised and once held her himation, or outer robe, as it blew out behind her in the wind. Fragments of Nike's face, forearms, and wings are missing, however, pieces of her wings can still be seen attached to her shoulders. In this statue of Nike from the fifth century the goddess's alighting motion is towards the viewer as opposed to the sideways running motion of earlier statues. Additionally, Paionios's Nike has adopted a striding stance as opposed to a pinwheel-type running stance. By changing Nike's stance, Paionios has relinquished depiction of Nike's swift speed in favor of depicting her in a forward alighting motion that directly engages the viewer.

By the mid Classical period and the start of the Hellenistic period, statues of Nike begin to portray her with legs almost completely straight in an alighting pose meant to evoke an appearance out of nothing rather than a hurtling into view. This slight forward and downward motion is illustrated in the Capitoline Nike (460 BCE) from Magna Grecia. This statue was made of Thasian marble and showed the goddess standing almost completely straight with a slight lean forwards to indicate Nike's downward and slight forward alighting motion. Although her wings are lost, the roots of them can still be seen behind her shoulders. The straight lines of her garments imply weightiness and the pull of gravity during her gentle descent. The slight overfold of her peplos across the midsection also evokes the sense of a small wind blowing upwards from her soft descent. Additionally, both of her feet are placed side by side in a standing pose rather than a striding pose. All these details suggest Nike is appearing and making a graceful descent to the earth rather than dashing sideways into view.

File:Le_Jupiter_Olympien_ou_l'art_de_la_sculpture_antique.jpg. Artistic Rendering of Pheidias's Statue of Zeus, 1815. Modified by Nagualdesign 18 December 2013. Available from Kansalliskirjasto, http://www.kansalliskirjasto.fi/fi/search?keyword=yleistieto%20tiedotus%20lehdistokuvat_muistiin_painettua.html#11. Accessed December 9, 2021.]]

During the Classical period, statuettes of Nike were often placed in the hands of other deities. One such example is Pheidias's statue of Zeus at Olympia. Pausanias describes the statue as follows:

{{blockquote|The god sits on a throne, and he is made of gold and ivory. On his head lies a garland which is a copy of olive shoots. In his right hand he carries a Victory, which, like the statue, is of ivory and gold; she wears a ribbon and—on her head—a garland. In the left hand of the god is a scepter, ornamented with every kind of metal, and the bird sitting on the scepter is the eagle. The sandals also of the god are of gold, as is likewise his robe. On the robe are embroidered figures of animals and the flowers of the lily.Pausanias, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:5.11.1 5.11.1].|Translation by W.H.S. Jones, and H.A. Ormerod.}}

Pheidias's cult statue of Athena from the Parthenon in Athens also held a smaller Nike statuette in one hand and a spear in the other. According to Pausanias, this Nike statue was roughly four cubits tall (about seventy-two inches).Pausanias, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.24.7 1.24.7]. Both Nike statues in Zeus's and Athena's hands were winged.{{cn|date=May 2025}} Nike typically appears without wings in Greek sculpture when she is being represented as an attribute of another deity, such as Athena.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

The statue of Nike from the Temple of Neptune at Corfu also implies a gentle appearance out of nothing rather than a hurtling from somewhere. This statue is speculated to be from the Hellenistic period according to Andrew Parkin.Parkin, Andrew. "A Statuette of Nike From the Collection of John Ruskin." Journal of the History of Collections. 8, no.2 (1996): p.187-190. The statue is made of white marble and is seventy-three centimeters tall. Nike herself is posed atop a globe, which is acting as the base. While Nike's forearms and wings are missing the sockets for attaching her wings can be seen on her back. The goddess is standing with both legs straight and together.Parkin 1996, p.187-190. Her head is bent downwards slightly so that her gaze rests on the ground rather than the viewer. As a result of this, her body also leans slightly downwards. Her winged, straight, and slightly bent posture evokes the appearance that she is looking down at where to place her feet as she descends. The Nike of Corfu also has a hollowed out back which has resulted in Parkin, C. Vermeule, and D. Von Bothmer to hypothesize that the statue was originally mounted on another base or the statue was intended to fit into the hand of a larger deity.

File:Fregio_della_gigantomachia_02.JPG, Gigantomachy frieze from the Pergamon Altar, Berlin.]]

As on many early Attic vases, Nike is depicted on the second-century BC Pergamon Altar alongside Athena, Zeus and their champion Heracles in the Gigantomachy, the war against the Giants. On the right side of the East frieze, the first encountered by a visitor, a winged Giant, usually identified as Alcyoneus, fights Athena.Cunningham, [https://books.google.com/books?id=G8GiAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA113 p. 113]; Kleiner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=sgiuAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA156 p. 156 FIG. 5-79]; Queyrel, pp. 52–53; Ridgway, Brunilde Sismondo 2000, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6Jj6rcIup4C&pg=PA39, p. 39], [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6Jj6rcIup4C&pg=PA59 pp. 59–60 n. 59]. Supporting the identification of this Giant as Alcyoneus, is the fragmentary inscription "neus", that may belong to this scene, for doubts concerning this identification, see Ridgway. Below and to the right of Athena, his mother Gaia rises from the ground, touching Athena's robe in supplication. Flying above Gaia, a winged Nike crowns the victorious Athena. To the left of this grouping a snake-legged Porphyrion battles ZeusRidgway, Brunilde Sismondo 2000, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6Jj6rcIup4C&pg=PA54 p. 54 n. 35]; Queyrel, pp. 53–54. and to the left of Zeus is Heracles.[http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2005/2005-08-39.html Ridgway, Brunilde Sismondo 2005]. Though virtually nothing of Heracles remains, only part of a linonskin, and a left hand holding a bow, the location of the hero is identified by inscription, see Queyrel, pp. 54–55.

Nike and Athena are both associated with victory, which has resulted in contestation over the origins of Nike.Sikes 1895, p.280-283. According to a paper by Harrison (as cited in Sikes, 1895) Nike was once a facet of the Greek goddess Athena, who was composed of Boulaia (good council), Ergane (skilled handcraft), and Nike (victory). According to this theory, Nike eventually broke off from Athena to form her own distinct personality. Baudrillart, in another paper (as cited in Sikes, 1895), shares a similar view that Nike was once a part of Athena and separated from her around the 5th century. However, he holds that the Athena Nike personality continued to exist alongside the distinct Nike personality.Sikes 1895, p. 280-283. In contrast to Harrison and Baudrillart's views, E.E. Sikes believed that Nike was always a distinct personality from Athena. According to Sikes, Nike existed as an independent deity from Athena since Nike represented victory in musical, athletic, and military competitions and Athena's authority was limited to strictly military victories. Sikes postulates that the theory that Nike first originated from Athena arose from the confusion of the two goddesses at Athens where Athena Nike and Nike existed alongside each other.

File:Circle of the Swing Painter - ABV 305 9 - young warrior arming - Nike between youths - Rhodos AM 15590 - 01.jpg|Nike between youths, amphora from Rhodes {{Circa|550}}-520 BC

File:Niké condecora a un atleta (British Museum).jpg|Nike crowning an athlete on an amphora, 470-460 BC.

File:Winged Nike with libation bowl and kithara, lekythos, attributed to the Oionokles Painter, Greek-Attic, c. 460 BC, red-figure terracotta - Blanton Museum of Art - Austin, Texas - DSC07673.jpg|Nike with bowl and kithara, red-figured lekythos, 460 BC, Blanton Museum of Art.

File:Red-figure pelike Nike and trophy (Boston MFA 20.187).jpg|Nike preparing the victor's trophy {{circa|450}} BC

File:Niké coronando a un escritor, British Museum.jpg|Nike crowning a young tragedian {{Circa|400-380}} BC

File:Statue of Nike (4th cent. B.C.) in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens on 7 May 2018.jpg|Nike of Epidaurus statuette in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens {{Circa|380}} BC

File:Skyphos lucano con nike che incorona un atleta, 370 ac ac..JPG|Nike crowning a young athlete {{circa|370}} BC

File:Nike statue, İstanbul.jpg|Nike statue from Pergamon in Istanbul.

File:Victoire de Samothrace - vue de gauche, détail de la statue.JPG|The Winged Victory of Samothrace, Louvre Museum.

File:Victoire ailée - 2.jpg|Statuette of Nike from Mysia, Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon.

File:3362 - Athens - Stoà of Attalus - Head of Nike - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 9 2009.jpg|Head of Nike, 2nd century AD, Museum of the Ancient Agora in Athens.

File:Las Incantadas Louvre Ma1391 side A.jpg|Nike column of Las Incantadas.

File:Giulio Romano - Victory, Janus, Chronos, and Gaea - WGA09625.jpg|Victory, Janus, Chronos and Gaea by Giulio Romano.

File:Schlossbruecke Berlin 23.JPG|Nike Crowns the Hero, outdoor sculpture in Berlin.

File:Linderhof Palace 08 cropped.jpg|Statue of Nike in Linderhof Palace, Germany.

• 307 Nike
• Altar of Victory
• Ángel de la Independencia
• Goddess of Victory: Nikke, named after the goddess
• Nike of Paros
• Operation Niki
• The Temple of Athena Nike
• The University of Melbourne, which has Nike depicted in its emblem
• Winged Victory of Samothrace

{{reflist}}

• Apollodorus, Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. {{ISBN|0-674-99135-4}}. [http://data.perseus.org/texts/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].

• Arafat, Karim, [https://oxfordre-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4425 s.v. Nike], published online 07 March 2016, in the [http://classics.oxfordre.com/ Oxford Classical Dictionary], edited by Tim Whitmarsh, digital ed, New York, Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-938113-5}}.

• Bäbler, Balbina, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e822130.xml s.v. Nike, II. Iconography], in [https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/package/bnpo Brill's New Pauly Online], Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and, Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry, published online: 2006.

• Bacchylides, Odes, translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1991. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0064%3Abook%3DEp%3Apoem%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].

• Blok, Josine, "The Priestess of Athena Nike: A new reading of IG I³ 35 and 36", in Kernos 27, pp. 99–126. {{doi|10.4000/kernos.2274}}. [https://journals.openedition.org/kernos/pdf/2274 PDF].

• Dionysius of Halicarnassus. Roman Antiquities, Volume I: Books 1-2, translated by Earnest Cary. Loeb Classical Library No. 319. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1937. {{isbn|978-0-674-99352-5}}. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dionysius_of_Halicarnassus/home.html Online version by Bill Thayer]. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL319/1937/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].

• Euripides, Ion, in Euripides: Trojan Women, Iphigenia among the Taurians, Ion, edited and translated by David Kovacs, Loeb Classical Library No. 10, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1999. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99574-1}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL010/1999/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].

• Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris, in Euripides: Trojan Women, Iphigenia among the Taurians, Ion, edited and translated by David Kovacs, Loeb Classical Library No. 10, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1999. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99574-1}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL010/1999/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].

• Euripides, Orestes, in Euripides: Helen, Phoenician Women, Orestes, edited and translated by David Kovacs, Loeb Classical Library No. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2002. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99600-7}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL011/2002/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].

• Euripides, The Phoenician Women in Euripides: Helen, Phoenician Women, Orestes, edited and translated by David Kovacs, Loeb Classical Library No. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2002. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99600-7}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL011/2002/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].

• Falaschi, Eva, "From Athena Nike to Nike Apteros: Literary and Epigraphical Sources", in G. Adornato, I. Bald Romano, G. Cirucci, A. Poggio (eds.), Restaging Greek Artworks in Roman Times, Milano: LED, 2018. {{ISBN|978-88-7916-832-8}}.

• Fine, John V.A., The Ancient Greeks: A critical history, Harvard University Press, 1983. {{ISBN|0-674-03314-0}}

• Hard, Robin (2004), The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004, {{ISBN|9780415186360}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC Google Books].

• Herodotus, Histories, A. D. Godley (translator), Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1920; {{ISBN|0674991338}}. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+1.1.0 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].

• Hesiod, Theogony, in Hesiod, Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia, Edited and translated by Glenn W. Most. Loeb Classical Library No. 57. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2018. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99720-2}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL057/2018/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].

• Himerius, Man and the Word: The Orations of Himerius, translated and edited by Robert J. Penella, University of California Press, 2007. {{isbn| 9780520250932}}.

• Homeric Hymn 8 To Ares, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0013.tlg008.perseus-eng1:8 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].

• Hyginus, Fabulae, in The Myths of Hyginus, edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at ToposText].

• Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. {{ISBN|978-0-631-20102-1}}. [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofclas0000grim/page/n3/mode/2up?view=theater Internet Archive].

• Laughy, Michael, "The Origins of the Democratic Priestess of Athena Nike", in Historia 67 2018 (4): 418–433. {{doi|10.25162/historia-2018-0016}}. {{jstor|45019300}}.

• Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC) VI.2 KENTAUROI ET KENTAURIDES - OIAX, Artemis Verlag, Zürich and Munich, 1992. {{ISBN|3-7608-8751-1}}. [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-2/ Internet Archive].

• Lougovaya-Ast, Julia, "Myrrhine, the First Priestess of Athena Nike", in Phoenix, Fall - Winter, 2006, Vol. 60, No. 3/4, pp. 211-225. {{jstor|20304610}}.

• Mark, Ira, S., The Sanctuary of Athena Nike in Athens: Architectural stages and chronology, Princeton and New Jersey: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens. 1993. [https://archive.org/details/IRA.MarkTheSanctuaryOfAthenaNikeInAthens1993/mode/2up Internet Archive].

• Menander, Dyskolos, in Menander: Aspis. Georgos. Dis Exapaton. Dyskolos. Encheiridion. Epitrepontes, edited and translated by W. G. Arnott, Loeb Classical Library No. 132. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1979. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99147-7}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL132/1979/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].

• Menander, Sikyonioi, in Menander: Samia. Sikyonioi. Synaristosai. Phasma. Unidentified Fragments, edited and translated by W. G. Arnott, Loeb Classical Library 460. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2000. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99584-0}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL460/2000/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].

• Menander, Misoumenos, in Menander: Heros. Theophoroumene. Karchedonios. Kitharistes. Kolax. Koneiazomenai. Leukadia. Misoumenos. Perikeiromene. Perinthia, edited and translated by W. G. Arnott, Loeb Classical Library No. 459, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1997. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99506-2}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL459/1997/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].

• Moussaka, Aliki (Archaic period), Goulaki-Voutira, Alexandra (Introduction and Classical period), and Grote, Ursula (Hellenistic period), [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/page/n532/mode/1up s.v. Nike], in Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC) VI.1 KENTAUROI ET KENTAURIDES - OIAX, Artemis Verlag, Zürich and Munich, 1992. {{ISBN|3-7608-8751-1}}. [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-Oıax/mode/1up Internet Archive].

• Neer, Richard, The Emergence of the Classical Style in Greek Sculpture, Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|978-0-226-57063-1}}.

• Nonnus, Dionysiaca, Volume I: Books 1–15, translated by W. H. D. Rouse, Loeb Classical Library No. 344, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1940 (revised 1984). {{ISBN|978-0-674-99379-2}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL344/1940/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press]. [https://archive.org/stream/dionysiaca01nonnuoft#page/n7/mode/2up Internet Archive (1940)].

• Oakley, John H., A Guide to Scenes of Daly Life on Athenian Vases, The University of Wisconsin Press, 2020. {{isbn|9780299327200}}.

• Palagia, Olga, "Art as Trophy: the Nike of Paionios", in NAUPAKTOS: The Ancient City and its Significance During the Peloponnesian War and the Hellenistic Period, O. Palagia (ed.), Athens, 2016.

• Parada, Carlos, Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology, Jonsered, Paul Åströms Förlag, 1993. {{ISBN|978-91-7081-062-6}}.

• Parker, Robert, Athenian Religion: A History, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1996. {{isbn|0-19-814979-4}}. [https://archive.org/details/athenianreligion0000park/page/n5/mode/2up Internet Archive].

• Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. [http://data.perseus.org/texts/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].

• Pindar, Nemean Odes. Isthmian Odes. Fragments, Edited and translated by William H. Race. Loeb Classical Library No. 485. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1997, revised 2012. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99534-5}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL485/1997/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].

• Plutarch, Lives, Volume IX: Demetrius and Antony. Pyrrhus and Gaius Marius, translated by Bernadotte Perrin, Loeb Classical Library No. 101. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1920. {{isbn|978-0-674-99112-5}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL101/1920/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].

• Pollitt, Jerome Jordan, Art and Experience in Classical Greece, Cambridge University Press, 1972. {{isbn|978-0-521-08065-1}}.

• Scherf, Johannes, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e822130.xml s.v. Nike, I. Mythology], in [https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/package/bnpo Brill's New Pauly Online], Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and, Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry, published online: 2006.

• Seltman, Charles T., The Temple Coins of Olympia, Cambridge: Bowes & Bowes, 1921. [https://archive.org/details/cu31924029779406/page/n1/mode/2up Internet Archive].

• Sikes, E.E., "Nike and Athena Nike" in The Classical Review, Jun., 1895, Vol. 9, No. 5, pp. 280-283. {{jstor|693294}}.

• Smith, William; A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. William Smith, LLD. William Wayte. G. E. Marindin. Albemarle Street, London. John Murray. 1890. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.04.0063 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].

• Stewart, Andrew F., "History, Myth, and Allegory in the Program of the Temple of Athena Nike, Athens", in, Studies in the History of Art, 1985, Vol. 16, Symposium Papers IV: Pictorial Narrative in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, pp. 53–97. {{jstor|42617835}}.

• Tripp, Edward, Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology, Thomas Y. Crowell Co; First edition (June 1970). {{ISBN|069022608X}}.

• West, M. L. (1966), Hesiod: Theogony, Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-814169-6}}.

• West, M. L. (1988), Hesiod: Theogony and Works and Days, Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-953831-7}}.

• Xenophon, Anabasis. Translated by Carleton L. Brownson. Revised by John Dillery. Loeb Classical Library No. 90. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1998. ISBN [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL090/1998/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].

• [https://iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk/category/vpc-taxonomy-000148 The Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (images of Nike)]

{{EB1911 poster|Nikē}}

{{Commons category|Nike (mythology)}}

{{Wiktionary|Nike}}

• [http://goddessnike.com Goddess Nike]

{{Greek religion}}

{{Greek mythology (deities)}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:War goddesses

Category:Greek war deities

Category:Greek goddesses

Category:Personifications in Greek mythology

Category:Sports goddesses

Category:Children of Ares

Category:Epithets of Athena

Category:Deeds of Zeus

Category:Victory

Category:Avian humanoids

Category:Olympian deities

Category:Shapeshifters in Greek mythology

Category:Pages including recorded pronunciations