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
Kratos is the protagonist of the "God of War" series. The character is a power-hungry Spartan who, to save his life, was eventually forced to serve the Olympian god Ares. During one murderous rampage, Kratos accidentally killed his wife and child. Kratos renounced Ares, became a tormented soul (including imprisonment by the Furies), and served the gods for ten years in hopes of becoming free of the nightmares. He eventually killed Ares and became the God of War, but was betrayed by his father, Zeus. A series of attempts to free himself from the influence of the gods and Titans followed, culminating in a final confrontation with Zeus, ending in the god's death and the reign of the Olympian Gods. In the aftermath, Athena appeared and Kratos sacrificed himself to prevent her from becoming the supreme goddess of the world. Many years later, surviving his fatal sacrifice, Kratos now lives in the world of the Norse gods in Midgard where he now has a son named Atreus. Following the death of his second wife Faye, he and Atreus journey to the highest peak of the nine realms to fulfill her promise and spread her ashes there. Along their journey, Kratos eventually reveals that he is a god to Atreus, and after defeating Baldur and in turn becoming an enemy of the Norse gods, he finally reveals his troubled past to his son and that they should learn from past mistakes.