Goddess Nike - Family - Elders, Parents and Siblings.

Ara Pacis Augustae celebrating Family, in Rome photographed by David Bramhall at Flickr.

COMMENT Relationships Elders, Parents and Siblings

Father: PALLAS Spearholder     Mother: OILEIS River of Divine Promise (AKA: STYX)

Brothers: ZELOS Zeal    KRATOS Strength    Sisters: BIA Force    ATHENA Insightful

Other Siblings: FONTES Fountains   LACUS Lakes

Paternal Grands: KRIOS Ram, Master, Anointed   EURYBIA River of Good Growth

Maternal Grands: OKEANOS Ocean   TETHYS Grandmother

This is my family tree. As you can see my father is Pallas, the Spearholder, the broad-shouldered Titan giant God and my mother is Oileis, the River of Divine Promise.

The poet Hesiod, like Homer before him, wrongly called my mother ‘Styx’, or Hate, because he was told to call my mother this by Zeus and the Muses. When the Muses inspired Hesiod to recite Theogony, the poem which paints a genealogy of the Gods, they made him aware that the work would contain falsities by saying: ‘we know how to speak many false things as though they were true; but we know, when we will, to utter true things.’ (Lines 26 – 28).

Hesiod is aware and troubled by this and he responds with a covert and clever retort, 'But why all this about oak or stone?' (Line 35). Truth and lies, oak and stone; two things that are entirely different to one another in the eyes of a humble shepherd.

Zeus had a plain reason to hate my mother Oileis but whilst he and his marketing Muses censured her name by renaming her 'Styx' they could not deprecate her actions and you will discover more of this affair throughout this site.

Returning to my family, Hesiod continues: 'And Styx the daughter of Ocean was joined to Pallas and bare Zelos and trim-ankled Nike in the house. Also she brought forth Kratos and Bia, wonderful children.' (Lines 383-384).

I do have two warrior brothers: my older brother is Zelos and he lives up to his name because he is ambitious and he is always striving to surpass every one and every thing; and my younger brother is Kratos, you may have heard of his mighty muscles but his strength also resides in his noble and ennobling nature.

I do also have a wonderful younger sister Bia, she is often overlook by gods and mortals alike because she is quiet and unassuming yet she is an agent of Ananke and the force is with her.

What Hesiod does not tell you is that I have an important and secret sister, the bright-eyed and beautiful Athena. Most people believe that Athena is the daughter of Zeus but this is another untruth told by the Muses to their poets.

Athena came from an intimate liaison between Pallas and his wife’s sister, Metis. At the time, only a select few knew of this secret, Pallas, Metis, Oileis and Prometheus, Athena and myself. You can learn about Athena’s birth in the special article called 'Athena's Birth'.

The Sisterly Love of Goddess Athena and Goddess Nike

I also have many other siblings collectively called Fontes, the Fountains, and Lacus, the Lakes, who came parthenogenetically from my mother.

My paternal grandfather is Krios, the Ram, the Master and the Anointed Titan, who is the son of Gaia, Mother Earth and Ouranos, Father Sky. My paternal grandmother is the river goddess Eurybia, the River of Good Growth, who is the daughter of Gaia and Pontos, Father of the Sea.

My maternal grandparents are the Titans Okeanos, the Ocean, and Tethys, Grandmother, children of Gaia and Ouranos.

Of course, all Gods and Goddesses are interconnected and related to each other. The most famous of my relations is Zeus, He Who Is, the Ruling Olympian God, and he is my first cousin once removed.

In other parts of the Theogony the Muses, through their mouthpiece Hesiod, mock humankind by presenting many blatant inaccuracies. For example, the idea that Helios, the Sun God, was born after his daughter and my great grandmother Gaia, Mother Earth, is patently wrong. You can find out the real genealogy of the Gods in the chronology of the Nike Story article.

Pallas Oileis Zelos Kratos Bia Athena