THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 1
Few works of ancient Greek art hold the same poignancy for the modern viewer
as the Archaic grave kore, Phrasikleia (fig. 1), whose inscription, “I shall be called kore
forever, because I won this name from the gods instead of marriage,”1 reminds us that the
person immortalized in stone was once a real girl, probably living in eager anticipation of
the day she would become a wife, but cheated out of experiencing a full life by her early
death. Her story would have aroused even more sympathy in the ancient Greeks, who
considered marriage the main object in the life of any woman,2 and the failure to
complete it a true cause for grief.3 By dying before marriage, Phrasikleia missed out on
what the Greeks considered the most important transition in the female life: that from
girl to woman. Hence, she must always be called Kore or girl, since her role in life must
forever remain unfulfilled.
Marriage as the Fulfillment of the Female Role
“There are two days on which a woman is most pleasing—when someone marries
her and when he carries out her dead body.”4 So wrote the sixth-century BC poet
Hipponax. Although more than faintly misogynistic in tone, this line nonetheless reflects
the ancient Greek thought that wedding day of any woman was, at the same time, the
most wonderful and the most crucial day of her life. Becoming a wife was indeed the
fulfillment of the female role. In fact, women in ancient Greek literature are often
defined by their role as wives: Penelope, for example, emerges as the ideal woman
because she remains loyal to her husband for twenty years, patiently awaiting his return
1
Funerary kore inscription, cited in Dillon and Garland 401
Just 40
3
Sophocles Antigone 810-816
4
Hipponax 68, cited in Dillon and Garland 398
2
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 2
and keeping hordes of eager suitors at bay, while Medea, on the other hand, certainly
ranks among the worst, thanks to of her failure as a wife and vengeful, unwomanly
murder of her own children. This literary prioritization of the female role in marriage is
confirmed by archeological evidence as well. Ancient Athenian graves are filled with
painted vessels, decorated with wedding scenes and placed there either for the marriage
of a dead maiden to Hades, or as a reminder of the most glorious day in the life of a
deceased matron. These vessels provide us with images of a wide variety of bridal
activities, including preparations, processions, and the arrival of the bride at her new
home. This prevalence of the wedding theme on vases, then, combined with references
in literature and grave monuments like that of Phrasikleia, is a testament to the vital
importance of marriage and the wedding in the lives of women.
My Interest in Nike on Wedding Vessels
Since, in my career at Franklin and Marshall, I had already devoted hours upon
hours to the study of women in antiquity, I was naturally drawn to the event that was
considered the key moment of the female existence. When I decided to concentrate my
independent study on the ancient Athenian wedding, I knew that I would have to narrow
my interests to a specific topic. Still, I began by reading The Wedding in Ancient Athens,
by John Oakley, a detailed overview of the ritual itself, for background information.
Oakley, who reconstructed the stages of the Athenian wedding by supplementing
information from ancient literary sources with details from vase-painting imagery, often
mentions the two main vessels associated with weddings: the loutrophoros and the lebes
gamikos. As a student of classical archaeology, I knew that I wanted to work primarily
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 3
with some form of Greek art. I also knew that I preferred to analyze vase-painting to
sculpture or other forms of art because pottery was a mass-produced commodity, used
and owned by ordinary people, and therefore more of an indicator of issues of everyday
life. The loutrophoros and lebes gamikos, the two primary vase shapes from the nuptial
context, then, became my focus. I set to work searching for images of these shapes.
Oakley, although he mentions them often, provides few pictures of these vessels, the
decorative scenes of which do not often depict the wedding procession itself, so I turned
to the Beazley Archive, an internet database of Greek pottery that allows the user to
search by vase shape. While perusing the Beazley Archive results for loutrophoroi and
lebetes gamikoi, I noticed that many of their figural scenes included representations of
Nike, the goddess of victory. I was surprised find that a deity whom I had always
associated with athletic feats and battle victory was also linked with weddings. I was
excited by opportunity to explore such an apparent contradiction: how could Nike
possibly be linked with marriage? Surveying a large body of secondary scholarship on
wedding imagery, I realized that no one had addressed this subject in detail. Sabetai
notes the presence of Nikai on lebetes gamikoi, but dismisses the figures as little more
than generic space fillers.5 Roberts calls them messengers from the netherworld.6 But
neither of these two address Nike in her identity as the goddess of victory, and the more
examples of Nike in the wedding context I discovered, the more dissatisfied I became
with these interpretations. Therefore, in the following study, it is my intent, by
concentrating on Nike as the goddess of victory, to determine through which associations
she came to be associated with marriage in fifth-century Athenian vase painting.
5
6
Sabetai, Washing Painter 88
Roberts 183
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 4
Methods
I next sought out Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters, by J. D. Beazley, the largest
available listing of vases in the red-figure technique. This three-volume work, which
provides information on the period, painter, museum number, provenance, and
publication, as well as a description of the figural scene, for a vast body of red-figure
vases, became the center of my research. ARV has a useful mythological index, which
cites every vase with representations of any given mythological character, including
Nike. Using this index, I then began to format a Microsoft Excel table, listing vessels
with depictions of Nike by their page number in ARV, and including information about
their museum number, provenance, shape, painter, period, and figural scenes. At first, I
collected only loutrophoroi and lebetes gamikoi with pictures of Nike, thinking that I
could determine her link to weddings through analysis of these vessels, but I realized that,
although they were my primary focus of study, wedding vessels alone would not provide
a sufficient view of the associations of Nike. I needed a more complete picture of Nike in
red-figure imagery. Thus, since it was my intention to discover a link that associated
Nike with weddings, I began to catalog every appearance of Nike in ARV, so that I could
examine all the contexts in which she played a part.7 Microsoft Excel also allowed me to
re-sort my list of vases by shape, which proved to be even more useful. Looking over the
different shapes with representations of Nike, I found that they fit neatly into three
distinct categories: sympotic ware, vessels used by men for the consumption of wine in
the symposium; items from the female toilette, such as cosmetic and perfume containers;
and wedding-specific vessels, shapes that are primarily seen in wedding contexts. I also
7
Appendix I
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 5
formatted three tables according to these categories.8 Then, assuming that an appearance
of Nike with another character implies a victory for her companion, I set out to analyze
each scene in light of its context of use to determine for whom Nike most often signified
victory, and considering the types of victories she represented, to explain how she may
have come to signify victory in the sphere of the wedding.
Structure
In my analysis of the connection between Nike and fifth-century wedding
imagery, I will begin by discussing the types of primary evidence that are vital to the
reconstruction of the ancient Athenian wedding, stressing the importance of scenes on
painted pottery in its study. Then, I will provide an overview of the rituals of the
wedding ceremony, to aid in the contextualization of the scenes I will later analyze.
Next, I will discuss the associations between weddings and death in ancient Greek ritual
and thought, an important concept in any study of the ancient Athenian wedding. After
this information about the wedding ritual itself, I will provide information about the other
subject of this study, Nike, drawing information from literary sources and iconography,
including a discussion of her popularity in Athens and consequent ubiquity on the
Athenian Acropolis. Then I will summarize the information in my tables drawn from
ARV, describing what kind of characters Nike accompanies on each type of pot and
considering each shape in the broader context of the three spheres of use: the
symposium, the female toilette, and the wedding. Following that, I will analyze this data
to determine for whom Nike signifies victory, considering men and gods, who often
appeared on sympotic ware; women, whose primary appearances are on items from the
8
Appendices II-IV
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 6
female toilette; and, since I will argue that there are cases in which women can be
victorious, brides, who are the focus of most wedding scenes. I will then argue that Nike
signifies that the bride has achieved a victory in her marriage. Finally, to prove that the
pattern of representations of Nike on wedding vessels was not the result of merely an
aesthetic judgment or a pointless fad, I will suggest several other links between the
goddess of victory and marriage, concluding that the main object of these representations
of Nike was to allude to the victory of the bride.
Evidence for the Ancient Athenian9 Wedding
Weddings are frequent metaphors in ancient Greek literature. From Homer, who
uses a wedding scene to epitomize a city at peace on the shield of Achilles,10 to
Aeschylus, who contrasts the torture of the chained Prometheus with the joy he
experienced on his wedding day,11 many authors portray the wedding as brightest point in
human life. But these literary references, although they put the wedding in a cultural
perspective, do not provide us with a detailed description of the event itself. John
Oakley, author of The Wedding in Ancient Athens, after weighing the evidence from each
literary genre, concludes that it is risky to attempt to reconstruct such a wedding
ceremony solely from literary sources.12 References to the marriage ceremony itself, he
notes, were brief, since the authors, assuming audience familiarity with the subject, felt
no need to elaborate in great detail; in fact, not one literary source outlines an entire
wedding ceremony. Also, he finds that each genre employed the wedding in service of
9
As the most complete evidence for weddings comes from Athens, I will limit my discussion to that city
only, rather than all of Greece.
10
Homer, Iliad 18.491-496
11
Aeschylus Prometheus Bound lls. 552-57
12
Oakley 7
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 7
its own lesson or purpose: for example, comic poets like Menander13 often satirized the
wedding feast, ridiculing the excess and expenditure of the ordeal, while tragedians such
as Aeschylus14 juxtaposed references to weddings against unfortunate events to highlight
the mutability of fortune. Oakley believes that, consequently, none is a completely
accurate portrayal,15 an opinion shared by Lissarrague.16
We are not, however, without hope: Oakley suggests it is possible to reconstruct
most of the details of the ancient wedding by combining these literary sources with
images from vase painting.17 There are many vessels to choose from: searching Attic
Black-Figure Vase-Painters and Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters, Webster discovered
sixty black-figure wedding scenes, mostly on amphorae and hydriai, and one hundred
fifty-one such scenes in red-figure, mostly on loutrophoroi and lebetes gamikoi.18
Webster observes that before 480 BC, vases adorned with wedding scenes were usually
gifts to the bridegroom, to be used in a symposium at his home, hence the great number
of amphorae and hydria with wedding scenes in black-figure. After that date, however,
vases with wedding scenes were more often given to the bride for use in her wedding
preparation rituals, resulting in the large majority of loutrophoroi and lebetes gamikoi in
red-figure wedding scenes. The content of the wedding scenes changes too: in blackfigure, the wedding procession itself is the favorite image, while in red-figure, the
preparations of the bride adorn the majority of the vessels.19 Since it is my object to
examine the ancient Athenian wedding from the point of view of women, then, I will
13
Menander, Samia
Aeschylus Prometheus Bound lls. 552-57
15
Oakley 5
16
Lissarrague 415
17
Oakley 7
18
Webster 105
19
Webster 106
14
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 8
limit my study to red-figure vases. First, however, I will provide an overview of the
wedding festivities, in order to better contextualize the scenes I will analyze.
The Rituals of the Ancient Athenian Wedding
Oakley defines a wedding as “a celebration of a sexual union that was sanctioned
by the community,” and a marriage as “a continuation of that union.”20 He points out
that marriage was part of the process of establishing the family units that produced both
legitimate heirs and citizens,21 a subject of great concern in fifth-century Athens. Thus,
marriage, especially between citizens, was necessary to maintain the social structure and
hierarchy of the Greek polis.
The wedding, however, was more than just another step in the process of life.
Feted in a manner rivaled only by funerals, the wedding ceremony marked the greatest
transition in the lives of two people, and, as Oakley says, “the point of [the bridal
couple’s] life’s fulfillment.”22 In addition, the sheer number of rituals known to surround
the event attests to the religious significance of the wedding. Truly, their wedding was a
high point in both the personal and spiritual lives of the couple.
Athenian weddings could take place at any time during the year, but the preferred
month was Gamelion, named for the festival celebrating the wedding of Zeus and Hera,
the divine paradigms for marriage. Oakley asserts that most Athenians purposefully
scheduled their weddings during this month, in imitation of the deities. The date for the
special day might be further determined by the phases of the moon: the Greeks thought
20
Oakley 9
Oakley 9
22
Oakley 11
21
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 9
that the full moon was the most auspicious phase for conception, and thus, as producing
children was its primary goal, for marriage.23
The typical groom was probably within five years, in either direction, of thirty
years old, at which age he should also have achieved sufficient financial independence to
support a household. His bride would have been much younger, being considered ready
for marriage as soon as she was able to bear children, at around fourteen.24 The groom
and the father of the bride took care of arranging the marriage, with little or no input from
the bride. During the process of betrothal, these two men formed a contract, in which the
father promised his daughter to the groom for the purpose of bearing legitimate
children.25 Vase-painting imagery indicates that they sealed the deal with a handshake.26
This contract, called the engye, was the only legal document to vouch for the marriage,
indicating the intention of both the father and the groom that the union be legitimate.27
The bride, reared supposedly in seclusion from men and instilled with the greatest hope
of someday being married, probably posed little opposition, either in spite or because of
the fact that she had never met the groom.
After the betrothal came the wedding, most often a three-day celebration in honor
of the new couple. Oakley points to lexigraphic evidence timeline of the festivities: the
first day, or proaulia, for preparations; the second day, or gamos, for the great feast, the
wedding procession, and the installation of the bride in her new home; and the third day,
or epaulia for further celebrations after the wedding night.
23
Oakley 10
Oakley 10
25
Menander Perikeiromene lls. 1013-14
26
Oakley 9
27
Oakley 10
24
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 10
During the proaulia, the couple paid special attention to religious matters,
offering numerous sacrifices, so that the gods would not envy their glory at the peak of
their lives.28 Various wedding goddesses especially, received sacrifices. Aphrodite,
goddess of erotic love, was given incense along with her sacrifice, in order that she might
give her blessing to the couple.29 The bride also sacrificed to Artemis, so that the
protector of virgins would not be angry with the bride for leaving her sphere.30 Either the
bride or the groom may have sacrificed to any number of other deities, especially to Hera,
the “divine exemplar of the bride,”31 who was also highly worthy of wedding day
recognition.
The bride alone dedicated certain belongings to the wedding goddesses, in hopes
of a propitious future life. Childhood clothes and toys went to these goddesses, showing
that the bride was leaving her girlhood behind. Specifically, the hair coverings32 of the
bride, soon to be replaced by the bridal veil, and belt,33 a symbol of her virgin status,
served both as religious dedications and symbols of the transition the bride was about to
make. The groom, having already experienced the transition into adulthood, would have
made such dedications of his childhood possessions earlier in life.34
Both the bride and the groom, however, took special ritual baths to mark their
separation from their previous existence. The bath of the bride seems to have been more
significant, as it is a far more frequent subject in vase painting. The public part of this
28
Oakley 11
Oakley 11
30
Oakley 12
31
Oakley 12
32
Oakley 15
33
Oakley 15. Sabetai discusses the significance of the girdle in detail in “Aspects” 328.
34
Oakley 15
29
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 11
step was the procession leading the bride to fetch her bath water, which was carried by a
child in a loutrophoros, a tall, narrow-necked water vessel.35
After bathing, the bride, assisted, as vase painting shows, by a number of female
attendants, donned the most extravagant costume of her life. This included a gown,
possibly in purple, the color of Aphrodite; copious amounts of jewelry; a crown, called
the stephane, and made either of metal or of woven plants; wedding shoes, or nymphides;
and a bridal veil.36 Such careful adornment follows the mythical paradigm of Pandora
described by Hesiod.37 Scenes of adornment are common in vase-painting and will play
a large role later in my study. The costume of the bridegroom, although less elaborate,
was also significant: he wore a finely woven himation and a crown woven with loveenhancing plants.38
On the day of the gamos, or wedding, there was a great feast, during which the
friends and family of the bridal couple dined on the meat from the prenuptial sacrifices.
This took place at the home of either the bride or the groom, and was probably a
collaborative effort on the part of both families. Men and women dined separately.39
Besides consuming the sacrificed meat, both the couple and their guests dined on sesame
cakes, a traditional food that symbolized their hoped-for fertility. Wedding music livened
the atmosphere, with the guests singing songs in praise of the bride and groom.40 After
the feast and in the presence of the convened guests, her father officially gave the bride to
the groom, allowing them to see each other for the first time. The anakalypteria, or
35
Oakley 15
Oakley 16
37
Hesiod Works and Days lls. 72-76. “The goddess grey-eyed Athena girt and clothed her;/ The divine
Graces and august Persuasion/ Put necklaces of gold around her skin; and the / lovely-haired Hours
crowned her with spring flowers;/ and Pallas Athena equipped her with all kind of adornment.”
38
Oakley 16
39
Oakley 22
40
Oakley 23
36
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 12
unveiling of the bride to her groom, may have occurred here as well. At the unveiling,
the couple also received gifts.41
Next came the wedding procession, in which the bride was escorted from the feast
location to the home of the groom. Oakley calls it the central act of the wedding.42 The
bride and groom rode in a cart, followed by guests, singing, dancing, and throwing
flowers. The mother of the bride was conspicuous as the bearer of the bridal torches.
Once they had processed to the home of the groom, his mother, also holding torches, lead
the bride inside.43 Then, standing in front of the hearth, the bridal pair was showered
with the katachysmata, a mixture of dates, coins, dried fruits, figs, and nuts, all symbols
of the prosperity of their home.44 Finally, the bride and groom retired to the bridal
chamber, finely furnished and decorated even more extravagantly than the rest of the
house.45 Their friends remained outside to pound on the door and sing bawdy songs.46
The next day, the couple celebrated with more feasting, songs, and dancing. Then
the guests presented them with their gifts, the epaulia, which included many beauty
implements for the bride. Thus concluded the wedding: the bride had completed her
transition from girl to woman, as well as her transfer from membership of one house to
membership of another.
Marriage and Death
Transition was an important theme in the wedding, so much so that marriage was
41
Oakley 25
Oakley 26
43
Oakley 26
44
Oakley 34
45
Oakley 35
46
Oakley 37
42
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 13
often linked with the other great transition in life: death. As noted above, the inscription
on the funerary kore of Phrasikleia implied that in death the girl would become the bride
of Hades, and Hipponax listed the wedding and the funeral as the highest points in the
life of any woman. Hoffman argues that the parallel structures of wedding and the
funeral, each of which included a rite of separation signifying death in one state of
existence, a phase of “social timelessness,” and a “rebirth” into the next state. 47
Following the same train of thought, Seaford points out some even more striking
similarities: “in both wedding and funeral the girl is washed, anointed, and given special
peploi and a stephanos in order to be conveyed on an irreversible, torchlit journey (on a
cart) accompanied by song, and to be abandoned by her kin to an unknown male.”48
There are a number of literary references attesting to this link, including the doomed
Antigone lamenting that the ruler of the underworld, Hades, will be her groom,49 and
Cassandra, in similar peril, also referring to a marriage to Hades.50 Real-life ancients also
made this connection: dead maidens were buried in their wedding attire,51 and the
inscription for Phrasikleia, re-naming her “Kore,” refers not only to her permanent
girlhood, but also to her “marriage” to Hades.
Since the concepts of weddings and funerals were so entangled, then, it is not
surprising that wedding vessels often became grave goods.52 The unmarried deceased,
although she would never be able to use the loutrophoros in life, would need it for her
marriage to Hades. For this reason, we have many extant wedding vessels, specifically
47
Barringer 662. See Hoffman.
Seaford 107
49
Sophocles Antigone lls. 810-816
50
Euripides Trojan Women l.445
51
Seaford 107
52
Oakley 6
48
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 14
loutrophoroi and lebetes gamikoi, preserved in graves in Athens and elsewhere in the
Mediterranean world. The loutrophoros was a narrow, elongated amphora or hydria
with long, thin handles (fig. 2). Oakley thinks the shape was used in an important
wedding ritual, the pre-nuptial bath of the bride,53 although Sabetai, citing many
examples of the shape with overly narrow necks or of monumental size, allows that its
function may have been merely symbolic.54 Two scenes from my database show the
bride holding a loutrophoros as she is preparing for her wedding,55 and Oakley provides
an image depicting the shape being carried in procession, painted on another
loutrophoros (fig. 3), reinforcing its role in the wedding.
The lebes gamikos, a bowl with lid, sometimes on a stand, was the other
prominent wedding vessel. The use of this vessel is not clear: while some suggest that it
held either heated water for the bridal bath or food for couple in the bridal chamber,
others interpret it as being more symbolic as an item in ritual than actually of functional
value.56 Sabetai notes that a lebes gamikos appears in a wedding preparation scene on at
least one wedding vessel,57 and Oakley provides an image of a lebes gamikos being
carried in procession, on a pyxis (fig. 4).58 The last woman to leave the house,
presumably a friend of the bride, carries the vase, preceded by a woman balancing a chest
on her head, a man holding a torch, and the bridal couple in their chariot. Although, as
grave goods, most of our lebetes gamikoi and loutrophoroi were likely never actually
used in a wedding context, their imagery is generally restricted to wedding or pre-
53
Oakley 6
Sabetai “Aspects” 320
55
ARV2 1266, 1 (a 1); 1266, 2 (a 2)
56
Sabetai Washing Painter 15
57
ARV2 514, 2 (4)
58
Oakley 95
54
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 15
wedding events, and thus, we have no reason to believe that they were significantly
different from those actually used in weddings.
Although we do have a general understanding of the wedding, many questions
about the details remain, and perhaps these two vessels in particular may be instrumental
in answering some of them. As I stated above, I am primarily interested in the
symbolism of Nike in the wedding context, and will devote much of my inquest to the
study of the loutrophoros and lebes gamikos, upon both of which she appears much more
often than expected.
Nike: Goddess and Personification of Victory
Nike, the personification or goddess of victory,59 was the daughter of Pallas, a
Titan, and Styx. Hesiod records that, because she helped the gods in their battle against
the Titans, she was allowed to live in the home of Zeus on Olympos, where it was her
duty to do whatever the god commanded.60 Her parentage is questionable, however, as
the Homeric Hymn to Ares counters that she is the daughter of Ares. 61 According to
Bacchylides, she stood next to Zeus, judging the contests of both mortals and
immortals.62 She helped in both military63 and athletic64 victories. Simonides describes
her as a charioteer, only allowing one man, the victor, to ride in her chariot.65 Thus, her
59
Shapiro, although he names Nike as a personification in Personifications in Greek Art, excludes her from
his study, claiming that the cult of Athena Nike “virtually eliminated any notion of Nike as an independent
personality” (28).
60
Hesiod Theogony l. 383
61
Homeric Hymn to Ares l. 4
62
Bacchylides Greek Lyric IV frag. 11
63
Simonides Greek Lyric III frag. 15
64
Bacchylides Greek Lyric IV frag. 3
65
Simonides Greek Lyric III
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 16
primary association in literary texts is with victory, in particular, athletic victory. No
ancient written source links Nike with women.
In Greek iconography, Nike is distinguished by her wings and most often
accompanies human victors or gods. One problem, however, in image analyses is her
close resemblance to another goddess, the winged Iris, messenger to the gods. Since
Nike also served the gods by delivering messages of victory to them, we cannot
automatically identify any winged messenger to the gods as Iris; in fact, Beazley
confidently calls most of these figures Nike in ARV2. When he is apprehensive about
naming the figure Nike, he allows for the possibility that she may be Iris; however, there
is no clear iconographic distinction between figures named Nike and those on which he
wavers. Thus, it is difficult to reconstruct the method by which he distinguished between
the two winged goddesses.
Popularity of Nike in Athens
After the Persian wars, the Athenians began to pay special attention to Nike,
which is demonstrated well in their reconstruction of the Acropolis. Nike had always
been present there: a bastion of Athena Nike had originally protected the Bronze Age
citadel,66 and in the Archaic period, it became a sanctuary to the goddess, complete with
altar and cult statue.67 After the Persians destroyed this Acropolis in 480 BC, it remained
in ruins for some time, some say due to the Oath of Plataia.68 However, in the aftermath
of two Athenian-led victories over the mighty Persian army, the city of Athens could no
longer contain its zeal for construction. Victory, and by association, Nike, became a
66
Hurwit 76
Hurwit 105
68
Hurwit 141
67
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 17
central idea throughout the Acropolis, and the Athenians issued a decree for the
construction of a new temple to Athena Nike, providing for a new priestess, specific to
the goddess in her aspect of victory.69 The date of the decree is uncertain, but if the
construction began in the 440s,70 as it may well have, the Nike temple would have
coincided with the beginning of construction on the Parthenon, and may have been a part
of the famed Periclean building program that restored its original glory and more to the
Acropolis. The final phase of the temple (fig. 5), built around 425 BC,71 featured an
Ionic temple with freezes and pediments depicting the victories of the Greeks and their
gods.72 The parapet, added slightly later, was adorned with hosts of Nikai erecting
trophies and bringing animals to sacrifice,73 which, as Hurwit proposes, tied together the
theme of victory on the Classical acropolis. The Nikai on the parapet wore thin, clingy
garments, and were represented in an almost erotic light. For example, one relief from
the parapet shows a Nike tying her sandal (fig. 6), a relief that, Hurwit notes, mimics an
image of Aphrodite on the frieze of the Nike temple.74 Thus, on the temple to Athena
Nike, Nike was established as a thing of beauty to her Athenian viewers.
Her appearances on the Acropolis were not limited to one temple; in fact, Hurwit
argues that Nike was the most conspicuous theme running throughout the Acropolis
building program. She made four appearances on the Parthenon frieze or pediment, as
well as on the four corners of its roof.75 Inside, another Nike stood in the palm of the cult
statue of Athena Parthenos (fig. 7). The temple also held at least eight “golden Nikai,”
69
Hurwit 160
For more on the controversy surrounding this date, see Hurwit 160.
71
Hurwit 209
72
Hurwit 211
73
Hurwit 213
74
Hurwit 214
75
Hurwit 230
70
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 18
six-foot tall images of the goddess, covered in two talents of gold.76 Finally, she
appeared in dedications on the Acropolis, such as a bronze Nike commemorating the
victory at Sphacteria in 425 BC.77 With so many appearances, Hurwit, concludes, Nike
was “as familiar a sight on the Acropolis” as Athena herself.78 From this it follows that,
at least at the time of the Classical Acropolis, the Athenians saw Nike as one of the most
important aspects both of their patron goddess, Athena and of their own identity.
Nike in Red-Figure Vase-Painting
Nike also became a favorite subject on fifth-century vase-painting. I will next
examine the appearance of Nike on each vessel shape, paying careful attention to both the
function of the shape itself and the characters accompanying her in the figural scenes, in
hopes of discovering what kinds of victories she represented, and for whom. In my
search to discover all the associations of Nike, I turned to Attic Red-Figure VasePainters, by J.D. Beazley, using the mythological index to catalogue each of her
occurrences by painter79 and vase shape.80
Nike on Sympotic Ware
Sympotic vases account for forty-six percent of Nike appearances in ARV2 and
can be seen as belonging to the world of men: used at all-male drinking parties, they
would not have been meant for the eyes of the women of the house. Consequently, when
Nike appears on a vessel from the symposium, we can read her presence in a male
76
Hurwit 155
Hurwit 230
78
Hurwit 230
79
See Appendix I
80
See Appendix II-IV
77
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 19
context. So, I will examine representations of Nike on these vessels in order to discover
what Nike meant to men. The amphora served as a decanter or wine holder.81 Thus, it is
not surprising that the Nikai in amphorae scenes accompany men, including youths82 and
a king,83 since these vessels would be most commonly used in a symposium. She also
appears once each as a messenger to the gods Poseidon84 and Zeus.85
The neck-amphora, a relative of the amphora, features various representations of
Nike. Often, she is alone on one side of the vessel, lending her associations to the figure
on the opposite side. Thus, she appears opposite a citharode,86 a victor,87 a youth,88 a
jockey,89 and a warrior.90 She also accompanies a king,91 presumably from the heroic
past, and men holding scepters.92 Nike often holds an oinochoe and/or phiale,93 as if
about to pour libations for the victor, and even once holding a sash as if to decorate an
altar for him (fig. 8).94 The winged goddess sometimes stands with women,95
occasionally with a wool basket.96 Finally, Nike sometimes appears with, or opposite,
mythological figures like Apollo and Artemis,97 Zeus,98 and Hephaistos and Thetis,99 and
81
Kanowski 16
ARV2 515, 10; 580, 1 (1); 842, 114 (56)
83
ARV2 1040, 18 (12)
84
ARV2 519, 16 (10)
85
ARV2 580, 3 (a)
86
ARV2 202, 74(60); 202, 75(61); 203, 100(45); 203, 104; 637, 29 (24); 650, 5 (5); 1058, 119 (85)
87
ARV2 446, 263 (202); 487, 65 (49)
88
ARV2 202, 79(64); 202, 89(73); 530, 14; 530, 15 (11); 553, 34 (27); 650, 7 (7); 655, 4; 657, 8; 657, 9;
666, 15 (13); 667, 8 (8); 667, 13 (12 bis); 667, 14 (13); 667, 15 (a 4); 667, 17 (14); 667, 18 (15); 857; 1071;
1192, 2 (2); 1194, 3
89
ARV2 646, 10 (9)
90
ARV2 616, 6 (5); 637, 26 (21); 1070, 4 (4)
91
ARV2 487, 63
92
ARV2 647, 11 (10); 651, 16 (12)
93
ARV2 493, 2 (2); 650, 6 (6); 650, 7 (7); 655, 3
94
ARV2 659, 35 (29)
95
ARV2 410, 55 (44); 531, 28 (a ii 1); 535, 4 (a 3); 650, 4 (4); 655, 2 (1); 1193, 1
96
ARV2 650, 6 (6); 655, 2 (1). I will discuss the significance of the wool basket below.
97
ARV2 203, 103 (46)
98
ARV2 202, 73 (59); 513, 2
99
ARV2 306, 2 (2)
82
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 20
Theseus and Perithoos.100 One neck-amphora features Nikai ministering to Zeus on side
A and another Nike holding torches for Hera on side B.101 However, since neckamphorae usually feature at least one other figure, Nike is more often a secondary
character than the focus of the scene, likely indicating a victory for the main figure.
On a more specialized shape, the Panathenaic amphora, which held the prize oil
for athletic victors, the Nike images undoubtedly commemorated the victory of the
recipient. Although there are surprisingly few Nikai adorning this particular shape, she
appears with a number of different types of people: a woman, probably pouring a
libation, with oinochoe and phiale;102 a youth;103 a victor with tripod;104 a citharode,
possibly Apollo;105 and a goddess, possibly Hera.106
Also belonging to the sphere of the symposium is the cup. Again, Nike is present
with gods such as Zeus,107 Dionysus,108 and Hermes.109 In these scenes especially, it is
difficult to be certain that she is really Nike, rather than Iris. She also accompanies
humans: victorious lyre players (fig. 9),110 athletes,111 and the ubiquitous youths.112
13
ARV2 1044, 3 (3)
ARV2 292, 38 (30)
102
ARV2 197, 7 (6)
103
ARV2 198, 15; 214, 1 (alpha)
104
ARV2 256, 3 (3)
105
ARV2 987, 3 (3)
106
ARV2 638, 52 (37)
107
ARV2 880, 15 (part of 19 +); 881, 29 (16)
108
ARV2 527, 80; 1513, 24 (41)
109
ARV2 880, 15 (part of 19 +); 940, 6 (5)
110
ARV2 838, 19 (39); 891, 1 (1); 918, 3(3)
111
ARV2 1270, 18; 1270, 20; 1393, 33 (17); 1393, 42; 1394, 45 (M 7); 1394, 56; 1512, 20 (4); 1513, 27 (6);
1513, 30 (5); 1513, 33 (21); 1517, 1; 1517, 8 (l 42 quarter); 1518; 1521, ; 1524, 1
112
ARV2 853, 1 (I 14); 881, 31 (18); 895, 82; 903, 50 (10); 903, 51 (N 1); 903, 52 (N 2); 903, 53 (N 3); 907,
4 (43, +); 907, 5 (a 24); 908, 6 (a 12); 918; 918, 3 (3); 922, 3; 922, 4; 927, 32 (22); 939, 1 (1); 939, 2 (2, 3);
940, 4 (4); 940, 5 (5); 940, 9 (13); 941, 31 (11); 955, 5 (4); 956, 21 (8); 1255, 89; 1259, 6 (5); 1259, 6 (5);
1391, 4 (3)
101
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 21
Many cups depict Nike standing with women.113 Nike stands with a king inside four
stemless cups, the outside walls of which show a youth pursuing a woman and the
woman fleeing to a king (fig. 10).114 Nike also appears with the traditional athletes on
other stemless cups.115
The hydria, a water jug,116 like other pieces of symposium ware, has varied Nike
scenes. She appears alone often117, probably signifying victory for the owner of the
hydria, and sometimes with gods, as a messenger.118
I consider all of the kraters together, because, as the symposium mixing-bowls119
of choice, they all served exactly the same purpose and remained within the domain of
men. The kraters with Nike representations include the bell-krater, the calyx-krater, the
column-krater, and the volute-krater. Nike appears often in the company of the gods,
especially Dionysus and his retinue,120 perhaps symbolizing a victory in a drinking
contest. Many other kraters place her with a youth on the opposite side of Dionysus or
his followers.121 Frequent also are appearances with gods such as Athena with Hermes
and/or Herakles, 122 Apollo,123 Zeus,124 and the Dioskouroi.125 Often, Nike presides over
113
ARV2 907, 1(1); 907, 2 (2); 907, 3(3); 911, 63 (a 27); 911, 67 (26); 918, 3 (3); 922, 2 (2). No
iconographic symbols identify the scenes, so, although there are many examples, these women must remain
anonymous.
114
ARV2 737, 134 (110): 737, 135 (111); 737, 136 (112); 737, 137 (115). Beazley tentatively interprets the
pursuit pair as Theseus and Aithra, but I disagree: why would Theseus be pursuing his own mother?
Instead, the woman must be one of his many conquests, and the king, since she is running toward him, her
father. As the symposium guest finished his wine, the result of the pursuit would be revealed to him. The
king is represented with Victory, yet the youth almost certainly captured the woman, leading me to believe
that the triumph of the king lay in securing the youth for a son-in-law.
115
ARV2 1400, 1 (1); 1520, 37 (16); 1520, 41 (20)
116
Kanowski 41
117
ARV2 229, 41 (33); 271, 3 (3); 276, 73 (64); 307, 7 (7); 496, 8 (6); 497, 9 (7); 527, 70; 527, 71; 1082, 3
(3)
118
ARV2 294, 63; 573, 12; 1110, 42 (17, +)
119
Kanowski 62
120
ARV2 1439, 1; 1185, 17 (16); 1185, 17 (16); 1444, 2
121
ARV2 1425, 1 (1); 1426, 13 (7); 1426, 21; 1426, 22 (10); 1427; 1428, 5 (4); 1428, 7 (5); 1428, 8 (6);
1428, 9 (8); 1428, 10 (7); 1428, 11; 1428, 12 (9); 1428, 15 ; 1429, 4
122
ARV2 1456, 5; 1457, 6; 1457, 7; 991, 56 (44)
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 22
competitions, appearing with musicians and sometimes their judges (fig. 11),126 and
numerous athletes,127 including charioteers.128 She also has her own chariot of victory,129
as mentioned above by the poet Simonides.130 Finally, in many cases, krater scenes show
Nike with or opposite unidentified youths (fig. 12).131
The oinochoe, a small vessel often used for pouring wine in ritual functions132 or
as a ladle,133 was often decorated with Nikai. In fact, in many lekythos scenes, Nike
pours libations from oinochoai. Likewise, a number of the oinochoe scenes show Nike at
an altar,134 sometimes even holding a phiale135 or oinochoe.136 Since these actually
depict libation scenes, they were probably used for offerings. On a few oinochoai, Nike
stands alone, but elsewhere she accompanies musicians137 an athlete,138 and a komast.139
Oinochoai are much like other smaller vessels in that Nike often takes a dominant role in
their scenes, rather than taking the subsidiary role seen on kraters, for example.
123
ARV2 215, 10 (nu)
ARV2 515, 3; 603, 34 (27)
125
ARV2 1334, 16 (11); 1454, 23
126
ARV2 1163, 31 (23); 1186, 24 bis; 568, 32 (26); 1095, 2; 511, 2 (10); 590, 8 bis; 590, 9 (7 bis); 1276, 2
(1 bis)
127
ARV2 1054, 56 bis; 1164, 47; 1333, 1 (1); 1439, 2
128
ARV2 1108, 23 (22); 1109, 26 (25)
129
ARV2 1041, 6; 1431, 32; 1097, 13; 1101, 2; 1104, 4 (4); 1112, 2 (2); 1112, 3; 1112, 4 (3); 1115, 20 (15);
1115, 21 (16); 1115, 22; 1118, 22; 1118, 23 (13); 1120, 4; 1122,; 1340, 5;
130
Simonides Greek Lyric III
131
ARV2 1425, 1 (1); 1426, 13 (7); 1426, 21; 1426, 22 (10); 1426, 25 (11); 1426, 30 (14); 1426, 33; 1427;
1428, 1 (1); 1428, 2 (2); 1428, 4 (3); 1428, 5 (4); 1428, 7 (5); 1428, 8 (6); 1428, 9 (8); 1428, 10 (7); 1428,
11; 1428, 12 (9); 1428, 15 ; 1429, 16: 1429, 4 ; 1430, 19 ; 1430, 20 ; 207, 134 (104); 207, 134 (104); 207,
134 (104); 542, 21 (18); 547, 19 (13); 585, 24 (23); 1096, 3 (3); 1096, 7 (7). The meaning of these scenes
remains obscure, but they do convey a general sense of victory.
132
Kanowski, 110
133
Kanowski, 111
134
ARV2 229, 46 (36 bis); 688, 248 (201); 704, 79 (65)
135
ARV2 688, 247 (200);
136
ARV2 649, 46;
137
ARV2 595, 67 (53) 595, 67 bis1324, 39 (31)
138
ARV2 1350, 1
139
ARV2 871, 95
124
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 23
Nike appears often, both in human and mythological contexts, on the pelike, a
versatile container that held oil, wine, and water.140 She accompanies athletic victors,141
warriors,142 unidentified youths,143 and musicians,144 signifying victories in their
respective fields. She also performs religious duties, erecting a trophy145 and leading a
bull to sacrifice,146 also commemorating human victories. In the immortal realm, she
appears with Athena,147 Herakles,148 Apollo,149 and Zeus and others in his company,150
including Hera. 151 She also occurs alone on both sides of one pelike.152 Nike is seldom
the center of any scene.
The rhyton, an animal shaped container, may have served as an ungent vessel,153
but was most closely associated with Dionysus.154 As Nike often appears with Dionysus
on kraters, I think her presence on these rhyta is probably due to her association with the
god rather than with any particular victory. In fact, on one rhyton, she appears in the
company of a maenad and a satyr,155 reinforcing the Dionysus reference. As the only
figure adorning two rhyta,156 then, she is probably an allusion to Dionysus. She appears
140
Kanowski 113
ARV2 286, 12 (8); 1040, 15; 1342, 1 (1)
142
ARV2 603, 46 (36); 990, 50 (41); 1128, 98 (17)
143
ARV2 119, (u 59); 1136, 10 (10); 1220, 1
144
ARV2 1044, 9 (8); 1084, 16 (10); 1084, 17 (11); 1123, 1(1); 1123, 2 (2);
145
ARV2 857, 2 (2)
146
ARV2 1123, 3 (4)
147
ARV2 736, 114 (3)
148
ARV2 1472, 1
149
ARV2 580, (u 41); 638, 53 (38); 639, 54 (39)
150
ARV2 288, 5 (5); 288, 6 (6); 580, (u 41); 852, 6 (I 8)
151
ARV2 639, 54 (39)
152
ARV2 486, 41 (28)
153
Kanowski 131
154
Kanowski 132
155
ARV2 766, 4 (4)
156
ARV2 1550, 2; 1550, 5
141
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 24
with one other mythological figure, Kekrops.157 On another, she is depicted holding a
box and sash, items usually assigned to women.158
The skyphos was a less elegant cup, but was nonetheless used at symposia. Nike
appears with youths,159 musicians,160 and athletes,161 as well as alone.162 She even holds
a wreath for one of the youths,163 preparing to crown his achievement.
The stamnos served as a wine mixing and storage vessel,164 and thus belonged to
the realm of men. As a larger vessel, it also allowed for more exalted subject matter.
Thus, Nike appears often in the company of the gods: she attends Zeus (fig. 13), Hera,
and/or Athena,165 Poseidon and Dionysus166 or Amphitrite.167 In the mortal sphere, she
accompanies youths and men,168 boys,169 and musicians,170 either foreshadowing or
commemorating their victories. In one scene, she appears with a woman and a youth,
running, while Zeus pursues a woman171 on the opposite side.
We see that Nike is a common character on sympotic ware, usually appearing to
signal victories for human men, such as athletes, musicians, and warriors, or as an
attendant to gods, such as Zeus and Dionysus. She rarely accompanies women on
sympotic ware. When she is pictured alone, perhaps she commemorates a victory for the
157
ARV2 764, 8 (7)
ARV2 1551, 14
159
ARV2 717, 235 (191); 924, 32
160
ARV2 75; 1302, 23 (a 3)
161
ARV2 1301, 14 (12); 1401, 7 (8)
162
ARV2 661, 87 (70)
163
ARV2 717, 235 (191)
164
Kanowski 142
165
ARV2 208, 148 (116); 296, 8 (7); 361, 8 (6); 639, 54 (39)
166
ARV2 217, 1 (lambda)
167
ARV2 251, 30
168
ARV2 502, 7 (7); 1071, 3
169
ARV2 505, 18 (12)
170
ARV2 1039, 7 (6); 1062, 1 (5)
171
ARV2 259, 2. If the running youth and woman are supposed to echo the pursuit scene on their reverse,
Nike signifies success for the pursuing youth.
158
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 25
owner of the vessel. However, on most sympotic vessels, Nike is one of many figures,
usually taking a subordinate role to either the gods she serves or the men whose victory
she announces.
Nike on Vessels from the Female Toilette
We now turn to the images of Nike on female toilette vessels, which account for
forty-three percent of her appearances in red-figure scenes, and which will presumably
reflect the role of Nike in the realm of women. The alabastron was used mainly by
women as a perfume vessel. Nike appears on fifteen alabastra always in the company of
a woman except for three examples: one on which she accompanies a youth,172 and two
where she is alone (fig. 14).173 Once, the woman opposite her holds a mirror and
alabastron,174 showing us the context in which this shape was used. Another woman
holds only a mirror.175 On one alabastron, the woman on the reverse face of Nike sits at
a wool basket. 176 On two others,177 Nike accompanies a woman running with torches.178
Usually, though, her companions hold no props.179 On the alabastron, then, the subjects
are overwhelmingly female, and Nike often plays a subordinate role to one other
character.
172
ARV2 717, 229
ARV2 661, 81 (61); 727, 18 (15)
174
ARV2 726, 6
175
ARV2 727, 21 (18)
176
ARV2 726, 1 (1)
177
ARV2 726, 7 (5); 727, 18 (15)
178
Perhaps a mother of the bride?
179
ARV2 625, 90 (a); 725, 1 (1); 726, 5 (4); 726, 7 (5); 726, 9 (7); 726, 13 (10)
173
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 26
I consider the askos, which served an ungent vessel,180 also for women, to be
similar to the alabastron. On two askoi, Nike accompanies a lone woman.181 Another
askos, because it features Nike with Eros,182 could well have been a wedding present.
Nike was the favorite figure for the lekythos, and graces more of them, three
hundred and thirty-nine in total, than any other vase, perhaps because these were
common gifts for the grave, the context in which most pottery is found. Lekythoi, like
alabastra and askoi, served as containers for oil and perfumed oil, often used by women.
Many, especially those decorated in the white-ground technique, were used mainly in the
funerary context. 183 These smaller vessels usually have less ornamentation than most
other shapes, and Nike is often alone on lekythoi. Many catalogue entries in ARV2 state
simply “Nike,” indicating that she is the sole decoration on the lekythos.184 She also
holds beauty implements like a fillet,185 headband,186 mirror,187 or alabastron,188 in
scenes congruent with the context of the vessel. Sometimes, appearing at a fountain
and/or holding hydriai,189 or carrying a wool basket,190 she refers to typical female
180
Kanowski 32
ARV2 918, 208 (81); 918, 209 (82)
182
ARV2 664
183
Kanowski 95
184
ARV2 211, 188 (147); 211, 189 (148); 211, 195 (154); 211, 208 (168); 215, 14; 216, 19 (sigma); 307, 17
(15); 309, 13 (12); 309, 14 (15); 310, 20 (19); 310, 8 (6); 423, 121 (102); 423, 122 (96); 423, 127 (99); 423,
128 (101); 447, 269 (205) 452, 1 (1); 520, 46 (27); 556, 102 (56); 556, 104 (58); 556, 105; 556, 106; 560, 6
(6); 561, 8 (8); 624, 79 (71); 641, 91 (70); 642, 102 (77); 642, 114; 643, 118; 644, 3 (10); 645, 9; 656, 24
(10); 659, 46 (34); 670, 14 (13); 670, 15; 673, 16 (14); 674, ; 674, 18 (16); 674, 19 (17); 680, 66 (57); 680,
67 (55); 691, 25 (17); 697, 28 bis; 699, 65 (39); 699, 68; 706, 3 (7); 719, 13 bis; 719, 14; 729, 9-16; 844,
154 (82); 844, 158 (84); 844, 161 (88); 1197, 1200, 1 (1); 1202, 8
185
ARV2 756, 59 (44)
186
ARV2 423, 126 (100)
187
ARV2 702, 14 (17); 705, 1(1); 705, 1 (15); 706, 2 (6); 706, 3 (7); 706, 4 (7 bis)
188
ARV2 423, 125 (95)
189
ARV2 384, 222 (167); 680, 71; 680, 72 (59); 680, 73 bis; 686, 199 (159); 686, 200 (160); 697, 20; 697,
21 (15)
190
ARV2 671, 3; 673, 16 (bis); 697, 24 (a i 4); 697, 26 (a i 9); 706, 1 (11); 706, 4 (a); 731, 11 (15); 1370, 3;
1370, 4
181
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 27
chores. In many other scenes, the personification of victory appears holding a sash.191
Nike also occasionally stands with men, including a warrior (fig. 15)192 and citharodes.193
She also makes many offerings (fig. 16), holding phialai,194 oinochoai,195 fruit,196
flowers,197 and thuribles198 at an altar. In an example not catalogued by Beazley, she
holds a cithara and a phiale, as if about to pour an offering for a victorious cithara player
(fig. 17). Finally, Nike appears occasionally in the company of a divine figure, usually as
an attendant, as with Zeus199 and Athena.200 However, besides these few occasions when
she accompanies humans or gods, Nike is usually the central figure on any lekythos on
which she appears.
The squat lekythos was a variation of the lekythos, and its decoration followed the
same patterns. Often, Nike is alone in the scene.201 She also uses toilette items such as a
box202 or mirror,203 and a wool basket.204 Also, standing at205 or moving toward206 an
191
ARV2 680, 73; 699, 69 (42); 709, 2; 709, 3 (2); 709, 4 (3); 709, 17 (15; 709, 18 (16); 710, 19; 716, 211
(175); 731, 8 (13); 731, 9 (14); 731, 10 (77); 731, 16 (18); 731, 17 (19); 734, 89 (79); 734, 93 (88); 1197,
(a); 1200, 1 (1); 1370, 3
192
ARV2 659, 35 (29); 993, 19 (74); 1003, 19 bis
193
ARV2 659, 34 (23); 659, 36 (26)
194
ARV2 310, 3; 310, 9; 446, 268; 642, 103; 656, 22 (12); 659, 33; 662,; 671, 1; 672, 2 (2); 678, 13 (13);
678, 14 (14); 678, 15 (15); 678, 16; 678, 17 (16); 678, 18; 678, 19 (17); 678, 20 (18); 678, 21; 678, 22 (20);
678, 23 (19); 678, 24 (22); 679, 25 (23); 679, 26 (24); 679, 27 (21); 679, 28; 679, 29 (25); 679, 26 (24);
679, 27 (21); 679, 28; 679, 29 (25); 679, 41 (35); 679, 45 (37); 679, 46 (38); 679, 47 (39); 679, 48 (40);
679, 49 (41); 679, 49 (41); 679, 49 (41); 679, 50; 679, 51 (42); 679, 52 (43); 679, 53 (44); 680, 54 (44 bis);
680, 55 (45); 680, 56 (47); 685, 181 (143); 685, 182; 685, 183 (144); 685, 184 (145); 686, 187 (148); 686,
188 (149); 686, 189 (151); 686, 190 (150); 686, 191 (152); 690, 1 (1); 690, 2 (l 46); 690, 3 (a 4); 691, 22
(14); 691, 23 (15); 697, 27 (a ii a 2); 699, 66 (41); 701, 1; 702, 10 (9); 702, 11 (10); 702, 12 (11); 702, 13
(12); 702, 18 (28); 702, 19 (16); 702, 22 (29); 710, 20 (17); 721, 2; 721; 731, 15 (20); 844, 148; 1202, 8
195
ARV2 212, 214 (175); 446, 268; 642, 103; 680, 56 (47); 685, 185 (146); 686, 191 (152); 686, 192 (153);
686, 193 (154); 686, 194 (155); 686, 195 (156); 690, 4 92); 710, 20 (17)
196
ARV2 678, 23 (19); 678, 24 (22); 679, 25 (23); 679, 26 (24); 679, 30 (26); 679, 31 (27); 679, 32 (28);
679, 45 (37); 680, 57 (51); 686, 188 (149); 686, 189 (151); 686, 192 (153); 691, 23 (15)
197
ARV2 679, 28; 679, 29 (25); 679, 32 (28); 685, 185 (146); 690, 2 (l 46); 690, 4 (2)
198
ARV2 212, 214 (175); 659, 38 (27); 659, 43 (30); 697, 25 (a i 8); 699, 63 (38)
199
ARV2 310, 1 (1); 659, 33; 673, 11 (9)
200
ARV2 993, 79 (64)
201
ARV2 687, 228 (184); 729, 20; 1220, 2 (2); 1220, 4 (4); 1220, 9 (6); 1221, 1; 1221, 2; 1364, 1; 1364, 2;
1368, 3; 1368, 4
202
ARV2 1363, 10
203
ARV2 705, 5 (19)
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 28
altar, or holding a phiale207 as if about to pour libations, she serves as an executor of
religious functions.
Women usually used the pyxis as a container for cosmetics and jewelry,208 There
are only four pyxides with images of Nike, but since they are so strongly associated with
women, and were even given as wedding gifts, I will include them in the study,
considering them as in the same context as the alabastra, askoi, and lekythoi. One pyxis,
which features Nike with “mistress and maids” and Eros209 in a scene very similar to
those on many wedding-specific vessels, was almost certainly a wedding gift, especially
since these “mistress and maid” scenes have been clearly identified by Reilly as wedding
preparation scenes.210 Another pyxis, which depicts Nike with Eros pursuing a woman,211
also probably belonged in the nuptial context. In two other scenes, Nike accompanies a
lone woman.212 Unlike the other vessels from the female toilette, however, pyxides rarely
show Nike alone.
On items from the female toilette, Nike iconography is fairly specific to women.
These vessels have far fewer representations of the gods or male victors than those used
at the symposium. Instead, female toilette imagery abounds, with Nike or her
companions often holding mirrors, alabastra, and ribbons more than anything else. The
goddess of victory also makes numerous appearances with items symbolizing typical
204
ARV2 705, 5 (19)
ARV2 687, 229 (182)
206
ARV2 687, 227 (183); 707, 2 (30); 735, 105 (92); 740, 2 (2); 1220, 2 (2)
207
ARV2 687, 227 (183); 687, 229 (182); 701, 14 (a iv 3); 707, 2 (30); 717, 220 (183)
208
Kanowski, 128
209
ARV2 1360, 3 (3)
210
To be discussed below
211
ARV2 1297, 14 (6)
212
ARV2 1297, 14 (6); 1223, 4 (5)
205
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 29
female chores, especially wool baskets. Finally, Nike appears many times, especially on
lekythoi, to pour offerings.
Nike on Wedding-specific Vessels
My study was inspired by representations of Nike on wedding-specific vessels,
and the following images will form the crux of my argument. Since it is my goal to
determine why the victory goddess appears so often in the nuptial context, having already
outlined in which contexts she appears on sympotic vases and vessels form the female
toilette, I will now examine appearances by Nike on the two vessels most associated with
the Athenian wedding.
The loutrophoros affords us many images of Nike, in a variety of bridal contexts.
These representations span the late Archaic to the Classical period, and seem to indicate
that the bridal couple has achieved a sort of victory. In all the other loutrophoroi from
the Classical period until the late 5th century, Nike appears only in wedding preparation
scenes, as opposed to depictions of the ceremony itself. She appears, holding torches,213
possibly taking the role of the mother of the bride, on a vase showing a wedding
procession, not in the wedding scene itself, but on the neck. She also rides in a wedding
chariot, accompanying the bride, the groom, and Hermes,214 and again with a wedded
pair in their chariot.215 In another scene, she follows the bride and groom in procession
(fig. 2),216 flying between a female friend of the bride and her mother, holding a sash,
while the groom, grasping her wrist, leads his bride home. Nike twice accompanies a
213
ARV2 261, 27
ARV2 581, 9
215
ARV2 1079, 1
216
ARV2 1127, 13
214
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 30
bride being prepared for her wedding, not represented standing under the handles, but
actually taking part in the preparations.217 In these examples, the women are certainly
preparing for a wedding, as the bride holds a loutrophoros. On three vessels, she appears
with Eros as well as the bride,218 another sure type of pre-wedding scene, with Eros
foreshadowing the love of the couple. Finally, in four other examples, Nike occupies the
area under the handles of the loutrophoros.219
Another vessel connected closely to the wedding was the lebes gamikos.
Consistent with the trend in loutrophoros decoration, most artists followed the pattern of
placing a Nike under both of their handles,220 sometimes holding torches (figs. 18 and
19),221 wool baskets (fig. 20),222 and chests and sashes (fig. 21).223 On one example, the
bride actually holds a painted lebes gamikos (fig. 18).224 She also holds such items as
the wool basket (fig. 22),225 the harp and a chest (fig. 23).226 Others bring items such as a
loutrophoros (fig. 23),227 an alabastron (fig. 24),228 and a mirror (fig. 25).229 In lebes
gamikos scenes, the bride is often visited by Eros or Erotes (figs. 21, 24, and 26)230 in
addition to her female companions. Eros occurs much more frequently in the later
217
ARV2 1266, 1 (a 1); 1266, 2 (a 2)
ARV2 1320, 3 (16); 1323, 31 (17); 1323, 32
219
ARV2 519, 25; 1266, 5; 1266, 6; 1277, 17
220
ARV2 516; 545, 8 (2); 548, 34 (27); 548, 44 (28); 841, 70 (47); 841, 71 (48); 841, 72 (49); 871, 74 (51);
1080; 1098, 34 (27); 1098, 35 (28); 1098, 35 bis; 1098, 38 (31); 1098, 39; 1102, 5 (l. 30); 1103, 5; 1103, 6;
1178, 1 (1); 1179, 4 (3); 1225, 1; 1225, 2; 1126, 1 (1) 1126, 2 1126, 3 (2) 1126, 4 (3) 1126, 5 (4) 1126, 6
(5); 1267, 12; 1277, 15 (11); 1320, 1 (25); 1320, 2 (23); 1322, 11 (24); 1322, 12 (27); 1322, 13 (26); 1322,
14 (29); 1322, 16 (18); 1322, 18 (21); 1332, 1; 1332, 2; 1332, 3; 1332, 4
221
ARV2 514, 2 (4); 1322, 11 (24)
222
ARV2 1103, 6
223
ARV2 1322, 13 (26)
224
ARV2 514, 2 (4)
225
ARV2 548, 44 (28)
226
ARV2 1126, 1 (1)
227
ARV2 1126, 1 (1)
228
ARV2 1126, 6 (5)
229
ARV2 1277, 15 (11)
230
ARV2 548, 43 (27); 1126, 2; 1126, 4 (3); 1126, 6 (5); 1179, 4 (3); 1320, 1 (25); 1320, 2 (23); 1322, 11
(24); 1322, 12 (27); 1322, 13 (26); 1322, 14 (29); 1322, 16 (18); 1322, 18 (21); 1132, 1; 1132, 2; 1132, 3;
1132, 4; 1460, 67; 1460, 68; 1460, 69; 1506, 1; 1506, 1; 1506, 2; 1506, 3; 1506, 5; 1506, 6
218
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 31
vessels, and his mother, Aphrodite, also makes two appearances.231 Nike appears under
the handles of the vessel in a few “mistress and maid,”232 scenes, as Beazley calls them.
In a study of Attic lekythoi with the same subject, Reilly persuasively argues that these
“mistress and maid” scenes are wedding preparations scenes, contending that the “maid”
is actually of equal status to the “mistress” since both usually wear the same clothing,233
and re-identifying many objects in the scenes, including the basket, the fillet, the wreath,
the plemochoe, the alabastron, and the casket, as wedding paraphernalia.234 In one scene,
Nikai hold perfume vases and boxes,235 helping in the preparation of the bride. Nike
almost always remains under the handles, on the outskirts of the scene, like a stock
figure, included as a rule, but not fully incorporated in the action. Thus, as we have seen
on most other large vessel shapes, Nike is a supporting rather than central figure. Yet,
she is present in this capacity on at least forty-two of the lebetes gamikoi in ARV2;
therefore, I suggest that depicting Nikai under the handles had become an established
element of lebes gamikos iconography by the fifth century.
This pattern is consistent between both types of wedding vessels. Although she
actually accompanies the bride and groom in procession on some of the older
loutrophoroi, on wedding shapes from later in the fifth century, whose iconography is
limited to the bridal preparations, she appears almost without exception on the sidelines,
under the handles, as one of many attendants to the bride, often bringing gifts or toilette
items. I am interested in discovering what sorts of associations linked Nike with
231
ARV2 1126, 6 (5); 1178, 1 (1)
ARV2 545, 8 (2); 841, 70 (47); 841, 71 (48); 841, 74 (51); 1277, 15 (11)
233
Reilly 418
234
Reilly 417-420
235
ARV2 1452, 13
232
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 32
weddings to such an extent that she became a stock character on so many wedding
vessels, and will attempt to answer the question below.
Who is victorious in red-figure vase painting?
Since Nike is primarily a goddess of victory, when she accompanies another
character in a figural scene, she usually signifies a victory for that character. I will next
examine the types of people who share space with Nike, in hopes of identifying the
different categories of victors.
Victorious Gods and Heroes
With the gods, Nike often appears as an attendant, serving as the messenger of
victory to the gods. She was especially linked to Zeus, as Hesiod says it was her job to
do his bidding.236 Her many appearances with Dionysus are more puzzling.237 However,
in the example of the Athena Parthenos statue, she certainly represents the victorious
attribute of the patron goddess of Athens, so her appearances with other gods could
ascribe victory to them as well. Likewise, with heroes such as Theseus and Herakles, she
seems to indicate their accomplishments, again, a symbol of victory.
236
Hesiod Theogony l. 383
Nicholas J. Richardson (“Iris,” Oxford Classical Dictionary) says that Iris, a winged messenger to the
gods often confused with Nike, “sometimes appears as a lone traveler beset by satyrs and centaurs.”
Beazley sometimes confused Nike and Iris in ARV2, and as I have been able to discover no connection
between Nike and Dionysus, perhaps any Nike with Dionysus is actually an Iris. As I noted earlier, it is
often impossible to distinguish between Nike and Iris in the company of the gods.
237
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 33
Victorious Men
Most of the representations of a lone Nike, as well as all of those where she is
accompanied by any sort of athlete, symbolize an athletic victory. Today, we have come
to associate Nike with athletic prowess thanks to an aptly named brand of sports apparel,
and even in ancient Greece, the goddess was strongly tied to athletic competition. I cite
as proof the many vases listed above that show Nike crowning an athlete, as well as
literary evidence from the lyrics of Bacchylides, who describes Olympic horses that
“sped in the company of pre-eminent Nikai and Aglaiai,”238 and speaks of an athlete
binding his blond head with flowers “by the grace of Nike.”239
Nike appeared almost as often with musicians, indicating a victory in a musical
competition. In fact there were as many competitions for musicians in panhellenic and
local games as there were for athletes.240 Thus, a victory in one such contest would
certainly be worthy of commemoration through a Nike vessel, and it is clear from the
prevalence of “Nike with citharode” and “Nike with flute-player” scenes that victorious
musicians believed themselves, just like athletes, to be crowned by Nike.
Nike also accompanied many warriors. As some called her the daughter of
Ares,241 she was ideally suited to award victory in battle, and Simonides refers to the
Greeks driving out the Persians “by the might of Nike and the work of Ares.”242
Certainly, when the Athenians erected the temple to Athena Nike, they thought that
Victory had been on their side during the battles. Thus, for men, Nike could symbolize
victory in athletics, music, or battle.
238
Bacchylides Greek Lyric IV frag. 11
Bacchylides, Greek Lyric IV frag. 10
240
Barker 1003
241
Homeric Hymn to Ares l.4
242
Simonides Greek Lyric III frag. 15
239
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 34
Victorious Women
That men had many opportunities for victory, and that these victories were often
commemorated by Nike-ware is no surprise, especially given her presence on sympotic
vessels; however, appearances by the goddess in the company of women and on female
vessels indicates there were ways for mortal women to be considered victorious as well.
Such a concept is not discussed in the written sources, so our only hope of understanding
it is through the study of images.
A Nike gracing a vessel meant for the female toilette might first seem out of
place. Why would the goddess have anything to do with perfumed oil or cosmetics? It is
possible, though, that painted on a container for beauty implements, she may have
symbolized a sort of victory available through beauty, implying that the woman using the
items had reached the peak of beauty. Two alabastra,243 six lekythoi,244 and one squat
lekythos245 show Nike with a woman holding a mirror, indicating that the victory of
woman is in her reflection. Likewise, when she is holding beauty implements, such as
the fillet,246 headband,247 or alabastron,248 she also speaks to the beauty of the owner of
the vase. In fact, victory in beauty was hardly a foreign concept to the ancient Greeks:
the kallisteion, or beauty competition, was a common theme in myth and literature,249 and
women were certainly familiar with the story of the Judgment of Paris,250 which centered
around a beauty competition among the goddesses. Although no ancient authors actually
243
ARV2 726, 6; 727, 21 (18)
ARV2 702, 14 (17); 705, 1(1); 705, 1 (15); 706, 2 (6); 706, 3 (7); 706, 4 (7 bis)
245
ARV2 705, 5 (19)
246
ARV2 756, 59 (44)
247
ARV2 423, 126 (100)
248
ARV2 423, 125 (95); 726, 6
249
Hawley 37
250
Cypria frag. 1
244
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 35
mention Nike in the story, she does appear on a pyxis opposite a Judgment of Paris scene
(fig. 27). In this scene, however, she seems to be approaching Hera: perhaps this scene
depicts the moments before the judgment, in which Paris is still uncertain of whom he
will choose. Another mythological beauty contest was held between Thetis and Medea.
Thetis, the winner, emerged idealized as the perfect wife, while Medea became the
paradigm for the dangerous, unwomanly female.251 There is also evidence for mortal
beauty contests in Greek literature:252Nicias, as recorded by Athenaeus, says that the
tyrant Cypselus held a beauty contest, awarding first prize to his wife.253 Athenaeus also
records a fragment by Theophrastus254 describing a beauty contest at Elis, the winners of
which was awarded the duty of serving the goddess Hera. Other contests were held in
Tenedos and Lesbos.255 Though our references to both mythological and mortal beauty
contests are scattered, they do allow us to hypothesize that victorious beauty was a
concept in ancient Greek thought. Thus Nike, holding beauty implements or even
standing alone on a toilette vessel, leads us to infer that a woman had achieved a victory
in beauty.
Nike appeared often with female spinners and their wool baskets as well. Perhaps
this link with textile production implies another competitive sphere for women. After
those of wife and mother, wool working was most significant role of a woman in ancient
Greece. If a woman could weave, she could be married and run a house, at least by the
standards of Xenophon, who excused a young, somewhat incapable bride as follows:
“Don’t you think it was adequate if she came to me knowing only how to take wool and
251
Athenodorus of Eretria, FHG iv 345.
Hawley 38-39
253
Athenaeus xiii 609e=FHG iv 463
254
Theophrastus lls. 563-564
255
Hawley 38
252
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 36
produce a cloak?256” Proficiency in weaving, then, was certainly a more important
female accomplishment than beauty. There even may have been wool-working
competitions for females: an inscription on an Attic black-figure cup257 says “I am
Melosa’s prize. She won me in the wool-carding event.” Ferrari reads the inscription on
the cup as a dirty joke, saying that its owner was probably not a “nice girl” since a piece
of sympotic ware would not have been an appropriate trophy for a girl.258 Even so, the
allusion to a wool-working competition may well be based on reality. So, as we see in at
least six examples depictions of Nike holding a wool basket or standing with a woman
holding weaving paraphernalia could symbolize excellence or victory in textile
production.
Ferrari also points out a connection between wool-working and maidens in
ancient Greek thought, citing both the general limitation of weaving imagery to parthenoi
scenes in vase-painting and literary representations. Even the most famous weaver in
literature, Penelope, she argues, was more in the position of the parthenos than the wife
because she was, although wrongfully, considered marriageable after the long absence of
her husband, Odysseus.259 Deities also follow this pattern, for the virgin goddesses
Artemis and Athena are associated with textile production, while Hera, a wife and
mother, is not.260 Spinning and wool-work, she concludes, belongs to the romantic world
of maidens, beautifully dressed and scented, and visited by suitors. Carrying wool
256
Xenophon Oec., VII.6; later, it seems, he had to teach her everything else about housekeeping, but he
was happy enough that she could weave.
257
Metropolitan Museum of Art 44.11.1
258
Ferrari 59
259
Ferrari 57
260
Ferrari 58
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 37
baskets, then, Nike not only symbolizes the spinning and weaving prowess, but also the
beauty and marriageablility, of the women she accompanies.
Victorious Brides
Finally, Nike appears at least seventy-seven times on the two most prominent
wedding vessels, the loutrophoros and the lebes gamikos. Sabetai notes the frequency of
Nike representations under the handles of lebetes gamikoi, but does not care to further
address their identity. 261 They are present, she says, as “intermediaries between the
heavenly and human sphere,” following the Classical tradition of fusing the divine and
mortal in order to humanize and one and elevate the other.262 Sabetai also points out
three earlier interpretations of the Nikai: Kenner, who believes that they were connected
with the winged demons, or chthonic spirits, who had appeared under the handles of
several archaic vases for the purpose of warding off evil, and associated them with death,
and Götte and Mark, who both argued that they were heavenly forces. 263 Indeed, our
Nikai look nothing like demons, and such morbid imagery would not have been
appropriate in a wedding scene. Roberts agrees with Kenner, stating that the purpose of
the winged figures was to bring blessings from the netherworld to the couple.264
Still, neither Roberts nor Sabetai explores the implications of the presence of the
winged figures or of Nike, the goddess of victory. Vestige though she may be of a
tradition involving chthonic spirits, she in no way resembles a harpy or a sphinx, neither
of which would, after all, have been appropriate in the setting of a wedding. Sabetai says
261
Sabetai 88. She only refers to them as “Nikai” by default, since Iris and Eos never appeared in
duplicate.
262
Sabetai 88
263
Sabetai 88
264
Roberts 183
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 38
that the artist could have chosen any other winged creature to fill their space on the
lebetes gamikoi.265 Although this is true, in almost every example, the artist specifically
chose Nike, selecting the goddess even over Eros, a figure much more directly linked to
the wedding. Thus, judging from their frequent systematic placement on lebetes gamikoi,
these Nikai are significant not only because of their compositional value and their divine
associations, but also for their own association. Nike, the goddess or personification of
victory, lends the quality of victory to whomever she accompanies on vase-painting, so
why should she not signify a type of victory for the bride?
In many figural scenes, the bride is surrounded by reminders of her great beauty,
like the alabastron (fig. 24)266 and mirror (fig. 25),267 as well as testaments to her skill as
a spinner, the wool baskets (figs. 20 and 22).268 Although the bride hold does not hold all
of these items in every situation, they are her property, and therefore reflect her character.
Since I have already shown that Nike symbolizes victories in beauty and female chores
on other female vase shapes, I acknowledge that her presence with these items does, on
one level, indicate the victorious beauty and skill of the bride. However, the goddess of
victory seems also to be connected with the wedding itself. On some loutrophoroi, Nike
appeared in a wedding procession itself,269 signaling the victory of the couple in having
reached the peak moment of their existence. So, when she appears with a woman during
her bridal preparations, Nike must also signify that the bride is about to be victorious in
her wedding.
265
Sabetai 88
ARV2 1126, 6 (5)
267
ARV2 1277, 15 (11)
268
ARV2 548, 44 (28); 1103, 6
269
ARV2 261, 27
269
ARV2 581, 9; 1079, 1; 1127, 13; 1266, 1 (a 1); 1266, 2 (a 2)
266
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 39
Why would Athenian brides have considered marriage a victory? Although as
Just says, marriage and motherhood were considered the “fulfillment of the female
role,”270 not all young women seem to have been fortunate enough to have the
opportunity to step into that role. Blundell thinks that an oversupply of marriageable
females may have lead to the exposure of infant girls in Athens,271 and even some of
those who were spared exposure still faced an uphill battle in the marriage market. And
if a girl were unsuccessful, her life would be grim indeed: Dillon says that a woman who
did not marry had no role in society.272 Even Aristophanes commented on plight of the
old maid. In Lysistrata, the title character expresses pity for “maidens growing old in
their chambers,”273 each of whom must remain “wretched and lonely the rest of her
life,”274 since she will be too old to marry when the men return from war. Even worse,
Blundell believes that poverty forced some of these women into prostitution,275 noting
that some concubines were freeborn women.276 Young brides, although probably kept as
ignorant as possible about such other women, certainly must have felt their fortune in
having the necessary wealth, connections, beauty, and household skills to be married.
Nike, then, just as she symbolizes the accomplishments of the weaver or spinner, lends
her associations to a girl celebrating the highest, and most victorious, point in her life.
270
Just 40
Blundell 131
272
Dillon 212
273
Aristophanes Lysistrata l. 592
274
Aristophanes Lysistrata lls. 595-596
275
Blundell 147
276
Blundell 124
271
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 40
Other Links between Nike and Weddings
I will now examine Nike in all her associations with marriage and weddings to
further prove that the Nikai on wedding vessels hold a significance beyond that of space
filler, chthonic spirit, or random divine messenger. Nike was a popular image in Athens,
the city that manufactured the majority of red-figure vases, booming in popularity after
the Athenian victory over the Persians at the battle of Marathon in 490 BC. She makes
few appearances in black-figure vase painting: in fact, Beazley catalogued only two
instances in Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painters.277 But starting from the Early Classical
period, which began in 480 BC just after the Persian Wars, she became extremely popular
in Athenian iconography, appearing more times than any mythological subject other than
Dionysus in Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters.278 The proud city wished to commemorate
its victory over and over again. Thus, it is clear that any appearance of Nike, whether on
drinking cups or cosmetic containers, or even wedding vessels, was a clear symbol of
victory.
Several other factors made Nike an appropriate choice for a wedding vessel. The
parapet for the Temple to Athena Nike, erected in 408 BC, revealed the feminine side of
the goddess through thin, clingy drapery. Thus, in this association, Nike may contribute
an air of beauty to the bridal adornment scenes that are so popular in the fifth century. In
fact, on one lebes gamikos, the bride bends to tie her sandal (fig. 19)279 just like one of
the parapet Nikai. Or, as victory was such an important aspect in the self-image of the
city of Athens, she may serve as symbol of the Athenian citizenship of the bridal couple,
whose marriage would help to reinforce the status of the ruling class of the city. A final
277
ABV 726
ARV2 1723; 1729
279
ARV2 1322, 11 (24)
278
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 41
connection, although far from certain, is the vague and mysterious link between Nike and
death, mentioned in passing by Roberts but nowhere fully investigated.280 Since Hesiod
tells us that her mother was Styx,281 the river of the underworld, she may have been seen
as an intermediary between the realms of the living and the dead, although this is not an
aspect of her divinity that is routinely stressed, either in literature or art. Since the
ancient Athenian conceptions of marriage and death were so intertwined that the death of
an unmarried woman was seen as a marriage to Hades, Nike, if she were really linked
with death in their thought, would not have seemed out of place either on a vessel made
either for a marriage or for a grave. Thus, Nike has many obscure connections to the
ancient Athenian wedding.
Conclusion
As I have attempted to prove in my study, it is in Nike’s personification of victory
on ancient Greek wedding vessels such as loutrophoroi and lebetes gamikoi that we can
glean the clearest message. In my study, I have suggested that since Nike almost always
symbolizes victory when accompanying figures from the human sphere, including
women, she must also symbolize victory for a bride when depicted in a nuptial context.
Drawing from literary and archaeological evidence, I stressed importance of marriage as
the perceived fulfillment of the female role and the ancient Greek view of wedding as the
defining moment in the life of any ancient Greek woman.
Remembering her strong connection with human victories in ancient Greek
literature as I analyzed the scenes on various vessels from the context of the all-male
280
281
Roberts 183
Hesiod Theogony 3.383-384
THE VICTORIOUS BRIDE 42
drinking party, I realized that when depicted on sympotic ware and other vessels meant
for use by men, Nike almost always symbolized a victory achieved or hoped for, either
by the figures she accompanies in the painted scene, or by the owner of the vessel.
Bearing in mind the implications of Nike in scenes from sympotic ware, I next
approached vessels from the female context. Having come upon evidence for beauty
contests in Greek mythology and history, I deduced that, appearing either with women or
on an item from the female toilette, Nike could also speak to a female victory in beauty.
Likewise, considering the importance of textile manufacture in the role of the ancient
Greek woman and, especially, bride, and alluding to the possibility of historical woolworking competitions, I proposed that when Nike appeared in scenes with weaving or
spinning paraphernalia, she symbolized great skill, or victory, in this field as well.
In the same way, Nike was hardly just a space-filler or a generic divine messenger
in fifth-century Athenian wedding imagery. Instead, I suggest that, as is the case with
depictions of the victory goddess on vessels from all other spheres, both male and female,
Nike appeared on loutrophoroi and lebetes gamikoi primarily to signify a victory for the
figure she accompanies, in the case of these wedding vessels, the bride. Her wedding day
could be considered a time of great victory for the bride on several levels: she finally had
the proper qualifications and accomplishments to make her transition from girl to woman;
she was more beautiful, or at least more extravagantly adorned, than anyone else on her
wedding day; she was, during her nuptial rituals, at the very peak of her life, being feted
and attended to by everyone; and finally, she was lucky enough to be chosen as the wife
to an Athenian citizen.