Nika is the winged goddess of victory, the constant companion of the powerful Athena. Warriors, participants in the Olympics and people of art equally needed her patronage. Apparently, this is why the image of Nika was widespread in the culture and art of Ancient Greece.
Instructions
Step 1
According to Greek mythology, Nike was the daughter of the titan Pallant and the goddess of oaths Styx, who was also the embodiment of the underground river that separated the kingdom of the dead from the world of the living. He grew up and was brought up together with the daughter of Zeus - the all-conquering Athena Pallas, later the goddesses became practically inseparable. No wonder on the Athenian Acropolis, next to the majestic temples dedicated to the powerful patroness of the city, a small temple of Nika Apteros was erected - a wingless victory.
Step 2
As you know, in mythology, victory was winged, because it was not distinguished by constancy and at any moment could fly away from one army to another. That is why the enterprising Athenians decided that it would be better to worship the wingless Nike, who could never leave them. In Roman mythology, the goddess of victory Victoria became a kind of Nike's double.
Step 3
The most famous sculptural image of the goddess is the statue of Nike of Samothrace, one of the few surviving masterpieces of Hellenistic art. True, it is not possible today to judge by her how the ancient sculptor imagined the face of the goddess. The statue has survived to this day without a head and without arms. However, in Greek sculpture, the main focus was always on the body, the faces were usually classically regular and monotonous.
Step 4
The mighty and dignified figure of the goddess stood on a high cliff above the sea. Its pedestal was made in the form of the stern of a warship. According to the researchers, Nika stood with her head thrown back and blew her horn, proclaiming victory. Her mighty body in a wet chiton rushes forward in an irresistible impulse. Strong and proud wings flutter behind your back, giving rise to a feeling of joy and triumph.
Step 5
According to the Greeks, Nika participated not only in military campaigns, but also in sports, music and drama competitions. As a rule, she was portrayed as winged. The indispensable attributes of the goddess were a band and a wreath, later - a weapon and a palm branch. As a messenger of victory, she could be depicted with a staff, which was usually considered an attribute of the messenger of the gods Hermes.
Step 6
Ancient Greek sculptures and reliefs depict Nika either nodding her head to the winner, then crowning his head with a laurel wreath, or stabbing a sacrificial animal. Also small in comparison with other powerful Olympic gods, Nika could once be seen standing in the palm of your hand at the grandiose sculptural images of Olympian Zeus and Athena Parthenos, created by the greatest Athenian sculptor Phidias.
