Nike

(European mythology)

The goddess of victory in ancient Greece. She was honoured by Zeus because she fought on the side of the gods against the Titans. So the Athenians dedicated her statue in Delphi after the naval victory over the Persians at Salamis (480 BC). However, athletes and charioteers also paid her honour for their successes in the games. For the Romans Nike became a symbol of victory over death, their own Victoria ensuring earthly conquests. Victoria's most important altar was placed in the senate house by Augustus in 29 BC.

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Nike, sculpture from a bronze vessel, probably made in a Greek city of southern Italy, c. … (credit: Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum)

Greek goddess of victory. She was the daughter of the giant Pallas and the river Styx. Nike was originally an attribute of both Athena and Zeus, represented as a small figure carried in their hand. She gradually came to be recognized as a mediator between gods and mortals, and was frequently shown carrying a palm branch, wreath, or staff as the messenger of victory. When depicted on her own, she was often a winged figure hovering over the victor in a competition. At Rome she was worshiped as Victoria.

For more information on Nike, visit Britannica.com.

This highly successful sports goods and accessories company had its origins in the 1950s with two friends at the University of Oregon in the USA, Bowerman and Knight, the former developing athletic shoe design and the latter going on to study for an MBA at Stanford University. Knight pursued the idea that attractively priced, well-designed, and efficiently marketed Japanese shoes could make inroads into the German domination of the US market. As a result a partnership was established with the Japanese athletic shoe manufacturer Onitsuka Tiger and, in 1962, Bowerman and Knight's company Blue Ribbon Sports (BRS) was established as the sole distributor of Tiger shoes. Following a period of real growth BRS began manufacturing its own shoes in 1971 and opened its first retail outlet in Santa Monica, California. BRS broke with Onitsuka Tiger in 1972, renaming itself Nike (after the Greek goddess of Victory). The new company was launched at the US trials for the 1972 Olympic Games and by 1980 the company went public having captured 50 per cent of the US athletic shoe market. In the 1980s Nike International was formed to cater for a growing overseas market that by 2001 covered more than 100 countries. Underpinning the company's success were a number of innovative business strategies as well as technological innovations such as the introduction of Nike-Air cushioning. In the 1990s the company continued to expand, developing its clothing and accessory lines and purchasing Canstar Sports Inc. the world's largest manufacturer of hockey equipment. In 2001 the company launched the first of its women only, NIKEgoddess stores in Los Angeles. These stores were planned as interactive with female consumers providing feedback on the style, design, and performance of Nike products.

Nīkē, in Greek religion, the (female) personification of victory. She became especially popular after the Persian Wars, the Athenians dedicating a statue to her at Delphi after the victory against the Persians at Salamis (480 BC). She was often depicted with wings.

• Gods and Divinities - Nike: goddess of victory (Greece)

Nike
Stone carving of the goddess Nike at the ruins of the ancient Greek city of Ephesus
Goddess of victory
Abode	Mount Olympus
Parents	Pallas and Styx
Siblings	Kratos, Bia, Zelus
Roman equivalent	Victoria

Statuette of goddess Nike found in Vani, Georgia.

In Greek mythology, Nike (Greek: Νίκη, "Victory", pronounced [nǐːkɛː]) was a goddess who personified victory, also known as the Winged Goddess of Victory. The Roman equivalent was Victoria. Depending upon the time of various myths, she was described as the daughter of Pallas (Titan) and Styx (Water)^[1][2] and the sister of Kratos (Strength), Bia (Force), and Zelus (Zeal).^[1] Nike and her siblings were close companions of Zeus, the dominant deity of the Greek pantheon. According to classical (later) myth, Styx brought them to Zeus when the god was assembling allies for the Titan War against the older deities. Nike assumed the role of the divine charioteer, a role in which she often is portrayed in Classical Greek art. Nike flew around battlefields rewarding the victors with glory and fame.

Greek deities series
Primordial deities
Titans and Olympians
Aquatic deities
Chthonic deities
Other deities
Personified concepts
Apate Atë Bia Charites Eris Eros Harmonia Horae Hypnos	Kratos Metis Mnemosyne Moirai Morpheus Nemesis Nike Thanatos Themis Zelos

Nike is seen with wings in most statues and paintings. Most other winged deities in the Greek pantheon had shed their wings by Classical times. Nike is the goddess of strength, speed, and victory. Nike was a very close acquaintance of Athena, and is thought to have stood in Athena's outstretched hand in the statue of Athena located in the Parthenon.^[3] Nike is one of the most commonly portrayed figures on Greek coins.^[4]

Names stemming from Nike include amongst others: Nicholas, Nicola, Nick, Nicolai, Nikolai, Nicolae, Nils, Klaas, Nicole, Ike, Niki, Nikita, Nika, Niketas, and Nico.

Contents 1 In popular culture 2 See also 3 Notes 4 External links

In popular culture

• The fictional character Sora has a brother named Nike after the Greek goddess of victory in the Japanese manga series Air Gear.
• The shoe and sports equipment company Nike, Inc. is named after the Greek goddess Nike.
• Project Nike, an American anti-aircraft missile system is named after the goddess Nike
• A figure of Nike with a vessel was the design of the first FIFA World Cup trophy, known also as the Jules Rimet trophy.
• Since Giuseppe Cassioli's design for the 1928 Summer Olympics, the obverse face of every Olympic medal bears Nike's figure holding a palm frond in her right hand and a winner’s crown in her left.^[5][6]

Statue of the Goddess Nike on the Titanic Engineers' Memorial, Southampton

• In Tera Lynn Childs' young-adult novel Oh. My. Gods., the main character is a direct descendant of the goddess Nike.
• In The Darkest Prison by Gena Showalter, the Greek Nike, a guard of Tartarus who is the embodiment of strength, fell in love with the Titan Atlas, her male equivalent, when he was a prisoner at Tartarus.
• A statue of Nike can be also seen in Warsaw, Poland. It was built in 1964 to protect the capital of Poland.
• On the emblem of the University of Melbourne, the goddess also appears.
• She is depicted on the front of the World War II Victory Medal (United States).
• The hood ornament used by the automobile manufacturer Rolls-Royce depicts Nike.
• In Jennifer Estep's YA series Mythos Academy, the main character is the champion (see Mythos Academy) of the goddess Nike, who guides her throughout the story.

See also

• Winged Victory of Samothrace
• Altar of Victory
• Nike of Paeonius

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Goddessnike.com (2011 [last update]). "Goddess Nike - Who is Nike? The Winged Goddess of Victory". goddessnike.com. http://goddessnike.com/who_is_goddess_nike.php. Retrieved 24 June 2011. 
2. ^ "Styx is the goddess of the underworld river Styx (water is not Nike's mother)". Theoi.com. http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/PotamosStyx.html. Retrieved 2011-11-15. 
3. ^ "Nike: Greek goddess of victory". Theoi.com. http://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Nike.html. Retrieved 2011-11-15. 
4. ^ Sayles, Wayne G. (2007). Ancient Coin Collecting II. Krause Publications. p. 149. ISBN 9780896895164. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=iAnweepmTSMC&pg=PA149&dq=Nike+greek&client=firefox-a. 
5. ^ Winner's medal for the 1948 Olympic Games in London, Olympic.org. Accessed 5 August 2011.
6. ^ "Picture of 2004 Athens Games Medal". http://www.livingroom.org.au/olympics/archives/images/thumbnails/athens_medal.jpg. Retrieved 2010-01-28. 

External links

• Theoi Project: Nike
• Goddess Nike

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