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).
Nike is little-attested in the archeological record but appears to have had a close association with 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's 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.Arafat, s.v. Nike; Scherf, s.v. Nike, I. Mythology; Bäbler, s.v. Nike, II. Iconography; Grimal, s.v. Nike; Tripp, s.v. Nike.
Etymology
The name derives from the Greek noun níkē meaning "victory", "upper hand [in battle or contest]". The word is of uncertain origin, probably related to neîkos "strife" and the verb neikeîn "to quarrel"; ultimately also of uncertain, possibly pre-Greek, etymology. R. S. P. Beekes finds the word unrelated to Proto-Indo-European and sees no strong evidence for the proposed relation with and the Lithuanian ap-ni̇̀kti "to attack". In the Doric Greek dialect, the name was alternatively spelled as Níka. The word gave several compounds in Ancient Greek, including the name Nikephoros "carrying away victory" and, through the verb nikáo "to win", it gave the epithet nikátōr "victor".
Family Hesiod, in his Theogony, has Nike as the daughter of Styx and the Titan Pallas, and the sister of Zelus, Kratos, and Bia.Arafat, s.v. Nike; Scherf, s.v. Nike, I. Mythology; Hesiod, Theogony 383–385 (pp. 32, 33); also Apollodorus, 1.2.4. Compare with Hyginus, Fabulae pr 17.1 (Grant, § 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 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, s.v. Nike, I. Mythology; Parada, s.v. Pallas 2; Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquites 1.33.1. Or like Athena, Nike could be thought of as the daughter of Zeus himself.Scherf, s.v. Nike, I. Mythology; Himerius. Orations 65.3 Colonna [= 19.3 Wernsdorf]; Nonnus, Dionysiaca 2.699–701 (pp. 96, 97).
Mythology Nike had little to no independent mythology.Arafat, s.v. Nike: "Nike has no mythology of her own"; Scherf, 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"; Goulaki-Voutira, 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's battle with Typhon.
Titanomachy The first mention of Nike occurs in the Theogony of Hesiod ().Arafat, 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 siblings 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, p. 49; Arafat, s.v. Nike; West 1966, p. 273 386–7: "The children of Styx are always with Zeus"; Hesiod, Theogony 386–401 (pp. 32–35). And as such, the qualities represented by Nike and her brothers would become attributes of Zeus himself.Hard, 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."
Battle against Typhon In Nonnos' Dionysiaca, Nike comes to aid Zeus in his battle against the many snake-headed giant Typhon, who has stolen Zeus's weapons the thunderbolts and begun a concerted attack on the heavens and the seas.Nonnus, Dionysiaca 1.163–293 (pp. 14–25). When Typhon discovers that Zeus has, through trickery, retrieved his thunderbolts, Typhon renews his attack, laying waste to the earth.Nonnus, Dionysiaca 2.1–93 (pp. 44–51). The day ends with Typhon unchallenged, while Zeus waits through the night for the approaching dawn.Nonnus, Dionysiaca 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 2.205–209 (pp. 60, 61).
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's other maiden daughter Artemis.Nonnus, Dionysiaca 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 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 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 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 492–506 (pp. 42, 43).
Athletic competitions
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, s.v. Nike; Bacchylides, 11.1–9. For both these poets, Nike is the giver of victory in athletic contests. Scherf, s.v. Nike, I. Mythology; Sikes, p. 281. Pindar has the victorious athlete collapse "into Victory's arms"Pindar, Nemian 5.41–42. or fall "on the knees of golden Victory".Pindar, Isthmian 2.26. While Bacchylides has athletes winning honor and fame "by the will of Victory",Bacchylides, 6.10, 10.15. or by "glory-bringing Victory".Bacchylides, 13.59.
Martial contexts Nike, invoked together with Zeus, could also occur in the context of war and battle.Scherf, 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, 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 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 29 (902c).
Theatrical competitions 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, s.v. Nike, I. Mythology. Euripides concludes three of his plays with the appeal:
Three of Menander's plays contain a similar formulaic ending:
Cult
Evidence for a cult of Nike exists for several locations in Greece and Magna Graecia.Scherf, 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, pp. 305–306. Vase paintings from the late Archaic show Nike in front of an altar or together with a sacrificial bull.Moustaka, pp. 857 (Nike 56–58), 897; LIMC VI.2, 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, s.v. Nike.
Zeus at Olympia 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, 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, p. 1. And, as such, are considered to be connected with the cult of Zeus at Olympia.Moustaka, 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.Moustaka, p. 857 (Nike 53), p. 897; LIMC VI.2, 562 (Nike 53); Seltman, p. 9 (19); Plate I (N-π).
Athena Nike
Athena Nike is a cult title of the goddess Athena, with whom Nike was closely associated and was perhaps popularly confused.Mark, 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, pp. 127–128; Falaschi, p. 77. Such examples given by Mark, p. 127, (and repeated by Falaschi) include Ares Enyalios, Artemis Eukleia, Artemis Hekate, Athena Hygieia, and Poseidon Erechtheus. As noted by Mark, 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.