THE WINGED VICTORY OF SAMOTHRACE

  The winged victory of Samothrace is one of the rare Greek statues whose exact origin is known.  It was made as an offering to the gods for as a sanctuary on the Greek island of Samothrace, placed on a height it could be seen from afar.

It is a masterpiece of Greek sculpture whose head and arms are missing and its based was in a shape of a ship's bow.  The total height, at the moment is 5.5 metes including the shape of the statue itself.  

The statue is one of small number of major Hellenistic statues surviving its original, rather than Roman copies. The Winged Victory has been exhibited at the Louvre Museum in Paris at the top of the staircase, since 1884.  

In 1808, Charles Champoiseau  acting in charge of the Consulate of France in Adrianopolis started the excavations in Samothrace where the statue was found.  He decided it was a funeral monument made of grey marble.   Departing from Samothrace it arrived in Paris in 1884. 

Today the Winged Victory of Samothrace remains one of the most celebrated sculptures on earth.  Since making its debut at the Louvre in the 19th century it has inspired countless of artists like surrealist Salvador Dali. directly appropriated the sculpture for his double Nike de Samothrace in 1973 and Purist Umberto Bocconi employed the figure's icon. 

In Greek mythology, the goddess Niki held a very important place in society. She was typically associated with speed, strength and victory.  .Due to this, soldiers and generals never went to battle without offering prayers to the goddess and ancient Greeks, from all walks of life, called upon her while facing a  struggle.  It is believed that she was actually a mediator between gods and men,  

Niki's father was Titan Pellas an her mother was Styx.  In the course of the Titantomachy Pellas died in battle and was handled by Athena the goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare.  The mother of Niki was the nymph Styx was the daughter of  Oceanus and Thetis Styx is usually depicted by the river Styx that separates the dead from the living      .              

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