Why did the Athenians erect a temple to the goddess Athena Nike, cutting off her wings?

The Athenians erected a temple to the goddess Athena Nike in honor of the victory over the Persians. Nika was portrayed with wings on her back, she was a symbol of the successful conclusion of the war (or any favorable outcome). A legend is connected with this event that the inhabitants of Athens cut off the wings of the statues because of the desire that the goddess remained with them and did not fly away.

To find out why the Athenians cut off the wings of the statue of the goddess Athena, it is necessary to understand why it was created:
The Greeks defeated the Persians, who threatened the independence of all Greek poleis. The main contribution to the victory was made by Athens, since the city was the richest and most powerful. In honor of this victory, the inhabitants created a statue of Athena and installed it in the temple;
The statue was called Athena-Nike, that is, Victorious. After all, it was installed in honor of the military victory over the Persian army. The statue had wings;
The Athenians believed that it was thanks to the divine help of Athena that they were able to defeat the powerful Persian army. At the same time, they wanted the goddess to continue to help the city and not fly away from them. Therefore, the Athenians cut off the goddess’s wings.
Thus, the temple to the goddess Athena was erected in honor of the victory over the Persians. And they cut her wings so that the goddess remained in the city and did not fly away.



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