Nike (mythology)
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 Titanomachy 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, symbolized by a wreath of laurel leaves (bay leaves).
Nike is seen with wings in most statues and paintings, with one of the most famous being the "Winged Victory of Samothrace". 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. Nike is also one of the most commonly portrayed figures on Greek coins. After victory at the Battle of Marathon, Athenians erected the Nike of Callimachus.
Characters of God of War
Athena was the Goddess of Wisdom and Kratos' mentor and ally throughout the Greek era in the series. In "Chains of Olympus", Athena initially tasked Kratos to find Helios as in the absence of light, the god Morpheus had caused many of the gods to fall into a deep slumber. In "God of War" (2005), she gave Kratos the mission of killing Ares, as Zeus had forbidden divine involvement, and was instrumental in allowing Kratos to become the new God of War. Although she begged Kratos to stop his second quest for the Ambrosia of Asclepius in the comic series (2010-11) and lied to him about his brother Deimos in "Ghost of Sparta", Athena was still sympathetic towards Kratos even after he renounced the gods and was betrayed by Zeus in "God of War II". Athena died trying to protect Zeus from Kratos, and was resurrected and elevated to a new level of understanding in "God of War III". With ulterior motives, Athena became Kratos' ally once more and guided him to the Flame of Olympus surrounding Pandora's Box, which allowed Kratos to kill Zeus and end the reign of Mount Olympus. Her spirit later returns to Kratos in "God of War" (2018) to haunt and taunt him about his past that he had kept secret from his son Atreus. As he was retrieving his old weapons, the Blades of Chaos, she said he was nothing more than a monster, to which Kratos replied that he was not her monster anymore.