Nike

Nike, the Roman Victoria, is the winged goddess of victory — in war, in the athletic games, and in every contest. Swift and gleaming, she alights to crown the victor, and she attends the greatest gods, standing beside Athena and poised in the hand of Zeus as the herald of triumph.

To the Greeks she was the divine moment of winning itself, and her image, caught in mid-flight with wings outspread, became one of the most enduring emblems of the ancient world.

Epithets

• Apteros Ἄπτερος — the wingless, so victory would never leave Athens
• Victoria Lat. — her Roman name