What is the ancient Greek goddess Nike? Sculptures and temples

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Perhaps today it is difficult to meet a person who would not know anything about ancient Greek mythology and the gods mentioned in it. We encounter the inhabitants of Olympus on the pages of books, in cartoons and in feature films. Today, the heroine of our story will be the winged goddess Nika. We invite you to get to know this inhabitant of the Ancient Olympus.

Goddess Nike description

In ancient Greek mythology, her name sounds the same as "Nike". She represents the goddess of victory and is the daughter of the titan Pallas and the monstrous creature Styx, personifying primeval horror. Nike was brought up together with one of the most revered goddesses of war and wisdom in ancient Greek mythology - Athena. She was an ally of the great Zeus in his fight against giants and titans. The Greek goddess Nike accompanies Athena everywhere, helping her in her affairs. By the way, in Roman mythology, Victoria corresponds to her.

What does Nika symbolize?

This goddess is the personification ofa happy outcome and a positive result in any business. Nika takes part not only in military operations, but also in sports, music and religious events organized on the occasion of success. It can be said that Nika rather symbolized the very fact of a perfect victory, rather than any actions and steps that led to it.

The image of the goddess

Most often this heroine of ancient Greek mythology is depicted with wings and in a pose of rapid movement above the surface of the earth. Nike's essential attributes are a bandage and a wreath. Later, a palm tree joined them, as well as a trophy and weapons. Sculptors, as a rule, depicted this goddess as a participant in a festival or ritual of sacrifice, or as a messenger of victory. With her, most often there is an attribute of Hermes - a staff. The goddess of victory, Nika, either appears affectionately nodding her head to the winner, or hovering weightlessly over him, as if crowning his head, or driving his chariot, or slaughtering an animal during a sacrifice, or constructing a trophy from the weapons of a defeated enemy. Her sculptures are almost always accompanied by sculptures of the great Zeus and Pallas Athena. In them, Nike is depicted in the hand of more significant Olympian gods.

Interesting facts

An asteroid discovered in 1891 was named after Nicky. The XXXIII Orphic hymn is also dedicated to the winged goddess of victory. In addition, her name was taken as the basis for the creation of the name of the American sports brand "Nike".

Temple of Nike Apteros

One of the biggestThe place of worship of this goddess that has survived to this day is located in the Athenian Acropolis. It has the name "Temple of Nike Apteros". It is also sometimes referred to as the "Temple of Nike-Athena".

The structure is located on a steep hill on the right side of the main entrance (Propylaea). Here, the locals worshiped the goddess in the hope that she would contribute to a positive outcome in the long war against the Spartans and their allies (Peloponessian War).

Unlike the Acropolis itself, which could only be entered through the central entrance, the sanctuary of the winged goddess was accessible. This temple was built by a famous architect of ancient Rome named Callicrates between 427 and 424 BC. Previously, this place was the sanctuary of Athena, which was destroyed by the Persians around 480 BC. The building is an amphiprostyle - a type of temple in ancient Greece, both on the front and on the back facade of which there are four columns in one row. The stylobate of the building consists of three steps. The friezes are decorated with sculptural reliefs depicting Zeus, Poseidon and Athena, as well as scenes of military battles. The originals of the surviving fragments of these scenery are now kept in the British Museum, while in the Greek temple you can only see copies.

Like most of the Acropolis buildings, the Temple of Nike was built from Pentelicon marble. A few years after its completion, the building was surrounded by a parapet in order to protect people frompossible fall from a high cliff. Inside the temple was a statue of Nike. In one hand she held a helmet (a symbol of war), and in the other a pomegranate (a sign of fertility). Unlike most accepted depictions, the statue did not have wings. This was done on purpose - so that victory would never leave the walls of the city. Actually, that's why the building was called the Temple of Nike Asperos, that is, the wingless victory.

Nike of Samothrace

This sculpture is another image of the Olympian goddess that has come down to us from ancient times. Its fragments in the amount of more than 200 pieces were brought to Paris from Greece by the archaeologist Charles Champoiseau in 1863. Thanks to the painstaking work and efforts of the restorers, a magnificent statue was revived from them. Despite the fact that the goddess Nike was deprived of her arms and head, as well as one wing (which was eventually made of plaster), she conquered all art lovers and for many decades has been one of the most valuable exhibits of the Louvre.